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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS  LIBRARY  AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


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Ttafant  Studies 


BOOK  II 


Thirty-six  units  and  projects  on 
Insects , Fish  and  Animals 
for  elementary  grades 


EDUCATIONAL  PUBLISHING  CORPORATION 
DARIEN,  CONNECTICUT 


CONTENTS 


BUTTERFLIES,  MOTHS,  BEES 

The  Evolution  of  the  Tomato  Sphinx  Moth 4 

The  Nature  Study  Club,  L.  Alden  Marsh 6 

The  Spinning  Lady  of  Spiderland,  Dorothy  Lauer 7 

Insects,  Mildred  Rodgers 8 

We  Study  Bees,  Margaret  E.  Parry 10 

Honeybees,  Margaret  Fitzsimmons 11 

Ants,  Margaret  Fitzsimmons 12 

FISH,  FROGS,  REPTILES 

Snails  and  Crayfish,  Glenn  O.  Blough,  Ida  K.  Brink 14 

Queer  Flying  Things,  C.  B.  Davis 16 

Frogs,  H.  Roll 18 

The  Frog  Unit,  Noreen  Hughes 19 

Scenes  in  the  Life  of  a Frog 20 

Crusty,  the  Hermit  Crab,  Lyla  W aterbury  Haynes 22 

The  Toad,  Evelyne  Stone 23 

Spring’s  Awakening,  Helen  A.  Smith 24 

Teaching  Geography,  Eunice  W entworth 26 

The  Turtle,  Fred  R.  Cagle 27 

Rabbits,  Squirrels,  Turtles,  L.  G.  Whiteman 28 

ANIMALS 

Preparing  for  Winter,  Anna  F.  Deane 30 

Animal  Life  Work  Sheets,  Frances  Crahan 31 

The  Cat  and  the  Dog,  Mildred  Sourwine 32 

Signs  of  Wildlife  in  Winter,  Edmund  J.  Sawyer 34 

Australian  Animals 36 

The  Rabbit  Unit,  Jean  Currens 37 

Rabbits— Wild  and  Tame,  Ella  Bacon 38 

The  Squirrel  Unit,  Margaret  Fitzsimmons 40 

How  Animals  Keep  Clean,  H.  B.  Bradford 41 

Wild  Animals,  Geraldine  Buhr,  Dorothy  Gilbert 42 

Squirrels,  Gertrude  Moore 43 

Turning  White,  George  King 44 

Animals  and  Flowers,  /.  Buhr,  Florence  Eastwood 45 

Those  Cunning  Foxes 46 

Animals  of  the  Arctic,  John  Watrous 48 

Seals,  Kay  Clark 50 

The  Zoo,  Evelyn  Thurber 52 

A Science  Shelf  for  Your  Classroom,  Ida  K.  Brink J4 


Copyright  1948  by  Educational  Publishing  Corporation. 
Printed  in  U.S.A. 


f BUTTERFLIES,  BEES 


IMr.  Tomato  Moth  begins  life  as  a tiny  egg,  so  small  he  can 
hardly  be  seen.  (Extreme  closeup  of  an  egg  of  the  Tomato 
Sphinx  Moth  on  a tomato  leaf.) 


2  As  a caterpillar  he  gets  a nice  juicy  dinner  from  a tomato 
leaf.  (Tomato  Sphinx  Caterpillar  feeding  on  a tomato  leaf.) 


;•>  y ; 


3  Mr.  Caterpillar,  after  his  heavy  meal,  rests  upon  the  stem 
of  a tomato  plant.  What  a fierce  and  ugly  looking  creature 
he  is!  (Closeup  of  the  Tomato  Sphinx  Caterpillar  on  a stem  in 
sphinx  position.) 


4  Mr.  Caterpillar  becomes  sleepy  with  too  much  eating  and 
too  little  exercise  and  decides  he  is  ready  for  his  long  sleep. 
(Closeup  of  caterpillar  transforming  into  the  pupa,  actually 
showing  back  of  caterpillar  splitting  and  exposing  part  of  pupa.) 


4 


7 He  is  very  proud  of  his  queer  antennae  and  sharp  eyes. 

(Extreme  closeup  of  head  of  Tomato  Sphinx  Moth  showing 
the  antennae,  eyes  and  tongue — tongue  has  been  moved  from 
normal  position  to  expose  same.) 


Photographs  by 
Lynwood  M.  Chace 


5 Mr.  Caterpillar  is  much  more  attractive  and,  for 
the  moment,  less  dangerous  in  the  pupa  stage  of 
his  life  than  as  the  “frightful’'  caterpillar.  Here  he 
is!  (Closeup  of  pupa  shortly  after  transformation 
from  caterpillar.) 


6 After  Mr.  Caterpillar’s  long  sleep  he  emerges  in 
his  full  dignity  as  Mr.  Tomato  Sphinx  Moth. 
(Closeup  of  moth  resting  on  tomato  leaf  shortly 
after  hatching.) 


8 Like  many  enemies  of  mankind,  Mr.  Moth  has  an  attractive  appear- 
ance because  of  the  artistic  markings  on  his  wings  and  body. 
(Closeup  of  wings  of  Tomato  Sphinx  Moth,  showing  pattern  on  hind 
wings  and  abdomen.) 


The  Evolution  of  the 
Tomato  Sphinx  Moth 

Look  out  for  him  on  your  tomato  plants 


5 


THE  NATURE  STUDY  CLUB 

A PROJECT  TO  DEVELOP  INTEREST  IN  NATURE  STUDY 

L.  ALDEN  MARSH 


Nature  Club,  which  was  or- 
ganized among  the  children  of  the 
training  school  in  a large  state  nor- 
mal school,  is  now  a permanent  out- 
door club,  which  has  for  its  purpose 
activities  to  keep  alive  in  the  children 
the  inherent  interest  which  they  all 
have  in  the  beautiful  and  wonderful 
outdoor  life  around  them.  The  follow- 
ing suggestions,  based  upon  our  ex- 
perience, may  be  helpful  to  teachers 
who  would  like  to  organize  such  a 
club. 

MEMBERS  AND  OFFICERS 

The  qualifications  for  membership 
may  be  whatever  are  convenient  for 
the  organizer.  In  a one-room  rural 
school,  for  example,  all  the  school 
children  might  be  members.  In  a city 
or  town  where  there  are  Boy  and  Girl 
Scout  organizations,  age  limits  of 
from  five  to  eleven  years  are  conve- 
nient, for  Girl  Scouts  join  at  ten  and 
Boy  Scouts  at  twelve. 

Very  few  officers  are  necessary  and 
these  may  be  either  elected  by  ballot 
or  appointed  by  the  adult  in  charge. 
We  have  a president,  a secretary,  a 
sergeant-at-arms,  a historian,  and  a 
housekeeper.  Committees  may  be  ap- 
pointed as  required,  but  too  much  ma- 
chinery does  more  harm  than  good. 
We  have,  however,  developed  simple 
ceremonies  of  initiation  and  make  use 
of  passwords  because  children  love  a 
little  innocent  secrecy. 

MEETINGS  AND  ACTIVITIES 

We  call  meetings  for  various  pur- 
poses as  required,  usually  once  a 
week,  and  invite  only  the  ones  we 
want  to  attend — sometimes  the  whole 
club,  sometimes  the  new  members, 
often  a small  group,  such  as  Orange 
badge  members,  or  Red  badge  mem- 
bers. 

Refreshments,  though  not  neces- 
sary, add  to  the  success  of  the  meet- 
ings. Sometimes  members  bring  the 
refreshments;  sometimes  they  are 
paid  for  out  of  the  club  dues  which, 
in  our  club,  are  twenty-five  cents  a 
year.  We  play  all  kinds  of  games  both 
before  and  after  our  regular  pro- 
grams, for  it  is  hard  to  hold  chil- 
dren’s attention  very  long,  especially 
if  meetings  are  held  after  school. 

We  often  take  short  trips,  some- 


FOR  INTERMEDIATE  GRADES 


SOME  OF  OUR  SPECIMENS 

times  to  study  the  trees  along  a 
street,  sometimes  to  visit  a sym- 
pathetic friend  who  has  an  aquarium. 
Occasionally  we  go  to  a nearby  hill- 
side covered  with  trees  and  each  takes 
a little  lunch.  In  summer,  we  have 
picnics  in  nearby  parks;  fathers, 
mothers,  and  friends  lending  their 
cars  for  the  transportation  of  the 
younger  members.  As  a reward  for 
those  who  have  won  a blue  ribbon, 
we  take  them  to  a natural  history  mu- 
seum in  a nearby  city.  While  there, 
we  insist  that  they  look  only  at  a few 
objects,  rest  often,  and  get  really  to 
know  something  about  what  they 
have  seen  rather  than  just  get  glimp- 
ses of  everything. 

Talks  to  individual  children  adapt- 
ed to  their  age  and  capacity  are  most 


valuable.  In  our  club  such  confer- 
ences may  be  had  by  any  child,  on  re- 
quest, after  school,  on  any  afternoon 
except  club  days. 

AWARDS  OF  MERIT 

When  children  join  the  club  they 
are  asked  to  get  a composition  book 
and  to  write  in  it  a table  of  contents 
according  to  the  following  classifica- 
tion: Birds,  Insects,  Spiders,  Crabs, 
Fish,  Shelled  things,  Reptiles,  Worms, 
Amphibians,  Mammals,  Trees, 
Shrubs,  Vines,  Wild  Flowers,  Culti- 
vated Flowers. 

To  win  a blue  ribbon,  they  must 
learn  to  know — not  from  pictures  but 
from  the  living  thing  itself — not  less 
than  seventy-five  plants  or  animals 
from  at  least  five  of  the  above  groups, 
not  including  cultivated  flowers  or 
domestic  animals. 

To  win  a red  ribbon,  they  must 
learn  to  know  twenty-five  more. 
These  may  include  cultivated  flowers, 
but  not  domestic  animals.  The  re- 
quirements for  the  red  badge  were 
purposely  made  easy  so  as  to  encour- 
age the  members  and  to  keep  them 
always  on  the  lookout  for  forms  of 
life  new  to  them. 

The  yellow  badge,  however,  is  hard- 
er to  obtain.  To  win  this  badge,  a 
member  must  collect  and  carefully 
label  twenty-five  specimens.  This,  of 
course,  raises  the  question : “What  is 
a specimen?” 

For  the  purpose  of  our  club  the 
children  are  told  that  a specimen  is 
anything  that  is  alive  or  ever  has 
been  alive.  A few  examples  will  show 
how  varied  the  specimens  may  be, 
as,  for  example,  a piece  of  coal  or  of 
coral,  shells  of  all  kinds,  live  spakes, 
live  birds,  bird  feathers,  insects, 
pressed  leaves  and  flowers,  seed  pods, 
and  so  on.  To  make  the  requirements 
easy  enough  for  all  to  fulfill,  we  al- 
low them  to  include  five  pictures  of 
living  things  which  they  have  seen. 
Those  who  get  a yellow  ribbon  re- 
ceive a large  package  of  some  books 
on  forestry  which  can  be  obtained 
free  from  the  Department  of  Forestry 
of  our  State.  (Write  to  your  own  state 
capitol  for  similar  material.) 

The  next  badge  is  purple  and  the 
requirements  are  as  follows : (1)  Five 
kinds  of  vegeta-  ( Turn  to  page  55) 


6 


THE  SPINNING  LADY  OF  SPIDERLAND 


A NATURE  STUDY  LESSON 

DOROTHY  LAUER 


H 


y 


IAS  it  ever  occurred  to 
you  that  a number  of  crea- 
tures of  the  animal  king- 
dom display  an  intelligence 
almost  as  great  as  that  of 
the  human  race?  The  spi- 
der, for  example,  though 
usually  thought  of  by  most  persons 
as  repellent  and  even  dangerous,  and 
looked  upon  by  the  small  creatures  of 
the  animal  world  as  a robber  and  kill- 
er, is  in  reality  a most  interesting 
creature. 

In  her  lone  struggle  for  existence, 
the  lady  spider  has  developed  some 
amazing  instincts.  Necessity  forces 
her  to  adopt  unusual  methods  of  pro- 
tection, both  for  herself  and  for  her 
young.  Most  important  to  her  self- 
preservation,  however,  is  her  ingen- 
uity in  providing  food. 

The  lady  spider  does  all  the  spin- 
ning. In  fact,  she  does  practically  all 
the  work  that  is  done  in  Spiderland. 
This  fact,  perhaps,  accounts  for  the 
smallness  and  weakness  of  the  male 
spider.  When  the  love-lorn  male  spi- 


At early  morn  the  spiders  spin, 

And  by  and  by  the  flies  drop  in; 

And  when  they  call,  the  spiders  say 
Take  off  your  things  and  stay  all  day. 

— MOTHER  GOOSE  RHYME 


der  goes  a-courting,  he  decks  himself 
in  many  bright-colored  hairs,  and 
struts  and  dances  before  his  lady- 
love. He  is  careful,  however,  not  to 
come  too  close  to  her  vicious  claws 
for,  should  he  not  please  her,  or 
should  her  food  supply  be  low,  she 
may  decide  to  eat  him  for  lunch! 


How  odd  it  would  be  to  be  able  to 
see  all  around  you  without  turning 
around!  Yet  this  remarkable  faculty 
is  possessed  by  some  spiders,  which 
have  from  two  to  eight  eyes,  accord- 
ing to  the  species.  Mrs.  Garden  Spi- 
der, for  instance,  who  spins  the  lovely 
cart-wheel  webs  you  see  in  your  gar- 
den, has  eight  eyes.  She  lies  in  wait 


r 


in  the  center  of  her  web 
and,  at  the  slightest  dis- 
turbance due  to  the  en- 
tanglement of  an  insect,  she 
can  see  in  exactly  what 
part  of  the  web  it  has 
lodged.  As  her  meals  de- 
pend upon  speed,  she  darts  out  in- 
stantly and  swiftly  ties  up  her  victim. 

Not  only  are  spiders  well  provided 
with  eyes  as  to  number,  but  they  pos- 
sess two  kinds  of  eyes.  The  diurnal 
eyes  are  adapted  to  seeing  in  the  day- 
time and  the  nocturnal  eyes  are  for 
night  work.  The  latter  are  indispen- 
sable, for  most  of  Mrs.  Spider’s  weav- 
ing and  hunting  are  done  under  the 
cover  of  the  dark. 

Before  weaving  her  web,  the  lady 
spider  carefully  surveys  her  building 
site.  Satisfied  that  it  is  well  chosen, 
she  fastens  her  heaviest  thread  to  the 
support  she  happens  to  be  resting  up- 
on and  drops  to  a support  below,  leav- 
ing behind  her  a silken  cable.  In  a 
short  time,  she  has  cut  her  space  into 
quarters.  Then  (Turn  to  page  60) 


THE  SPINNING  LADY’S  WEB  THE  HEART  OF  THE  WEB 


7 


SPECIFIC  OBJECTIVES 

1.  To  teach  appearance,  mode  of 
life,  habits,  work  and  use  of  bee,  ant, 
wasp,  and  gall  fly. 

2.  To  find  now  bees  assist  in  cross 
fertilization  of  plants. 

3.  To  learn  how  to  recognize  a true 
insect. 

4.  To  learn  care  needed  for  insect 
bites  and  stings. 

5.  To  develop  appreciation  of  pur- 
pose in  life  of  all  living  things. 

6.  To  find  out  how  insects  differ 
from  one  another. 

7.  To  develop  appreciation  of  self- 
sacrifice  of  the  social  insect  for  benefit 
of  community. 

8.  To  develop  appreciation  of  bene- 
fits derived  from  life  of  social  insect  in 
contrast  with  that  of  the  solitary. 

9.  To  learn  classes  and  kinds  of 
bees,  wasps,  and  ants. 

INTRODUCTION 

A discussion  about  insects. 

1.  What  is  an  insect? 

2.  Name  some  insects. 

3.  Prove  that  they  are  true  insects. 

4.  A spider  is  not  an  insect.  Why? 
A true  insect  has  six  legs  and  three 

parts  to  his  body:  head,  thorax,  and 
abdomen. 

Choose  four  insects  of  immediate 
interest  because  of  possible  first-hand 
observation. 

MOTIVATION 

The  following  items  motivated  selec- 
tion of  the  four  insects  in  this  unit: 

1.  Children  brought  a dead  bumble- 
bee to  school. 

2.  Stories  told  about  experiences 
with  bee  stings. 

3.  Story  of  ant  led  to  keen  interest 
and  observation  of  large  carpenter  ant 
found  on  playground. 

4.  Children  reported  their  observa- 
tions of  ant-hills  this  summer. 

5.  A live  wasp  was  found  on  the 
window  sill — probably  the  queen  from 
the  hornet  nest  brought  in  by  a pupil. 

6.  Flies  emerged  from  goldenrod 
galls  brought  by  a child. 

BEE 

Honeybee 

1.  Problem:  How  would  you  rec- 
ognize a honeybee? 

a.  an  insect 

b.  color — yellowish  brown 

c.  senses 

(1)  keen  sight;  eyes  compound 
and  numerous 

(2)  smell  and  hear  with  an- 
tennae (feelers) 

d.  pollen  baskets  on  hind  legs 

e.  four  wings 

2.  Problem:  What  do  bees  eat? 

a.  nectar 

b.  pollen 

3.  Problem:  What  are  the  kinds  of 
honeybees? 

a.  workers 


Insects 

A Good  Unit  for  Fall  Classes 

Mildred  Rodgers 

For  Primary  and  Lower  Intermediate  Grades 


(1)  greatest  in  number  (thou- 
sands in  a hive) 

(2)  smallest  in  size 

(3)  do  all  the  work 

(4)  short-lived 

(5)  barbed  sting 

b.  queens 

(1)  one  in  a hive  at  one  time 

(2)  largest  in  size 

(3)  lay  all  the  eggs 

(4)  smooth  sting 

c.  drones 

(1)  few  in  number 

(2)  smaller  than  queens 

(3)  do  not  work 

(4)  killed  at  the  approach  of 
winter 

(5)  no  sting 

Problem:  What  is  the  mode  of  life 
in  the  hive? 

a.  social 

b.  number  in  a swarm  (about 
seventy  thousand) 

c.  building  the  comb, 

d.  laying  of  eggs  by  the  queen 

(1)  worker  cells 

(2)  drone  cells 

e.  development  of  the  young 

(1)  the  egg;  (2)  the  larva  (fed 
bee-jelly  and  bee-bread  by 
the  workers);  (3)  the  co- 
coon; (4)  the  young  bee 

f.  other  industries  in  the  hive 

(1)  keeping  it  clean;  (2)  guard- 
ing the  hive;  (3)  ventilating 
the  hive;  (4)  making  wax; 

(5)  gathering  nectar  and 
pollen 

g.  developing  new  queens 

(1)  special  cells 

(2)  special  food  (royal-jelly) 

(3)  destroying  other  queens  in 
cells 

h.  swarming  and  the  reason  for  it 

(1)  the  new  queen 

(2)  the  old  queen 

i.  kinds  of  hives  used  in  various 

countries 

i.  Problem:  Of  what  use  is  the 
honeybee? 

a.  manufactures  honey 

b.  assists  in  cross-pollination  of 
flowers 

Bumblebee 

..  Problem:  How  does  the  bumble- 
bee differ  from  the  honeybee? 

a.  appearance 

(1)  larger 

(2)  color — black  and  yellow 

b.  mode  of  life 


(1)  solitary 

(2)  home  in  the  ground 

(3)  wintering 

(a)  only  youngest  queen 
survives 

(b)  sleeps  in  hole  in  the 
ground 

2.  Problem:  Of  what  use  is  the 
bumblebee? 

a.  assists  in  the  cross-pollination 
of  flowers 

b.  helps  honeybees  to  gather  nectar 

Leaf-Cutter  Bee 

1.  Problem:  How  does  it  differ  from 
the  other  two  kinds  of  bees? 

a.  appearance 

(1)  smallest 

(2)  gray  in  color 

b.  mode  of  life 

(1)  solitary 

(2)  nest  in  old  soft  wood — 
thimble  shaped 

2.  Problem:  What  is  the  work  of  the 
leaf-cutter  bee? 

ANT 

A.  Problem:  How  does  the  ant  com- 
pare with  the  bee? 

1.  similarities 

a.  social  and  solitary 

b.  kinds  in  a community 

(1)  workers 

(2)  drones 

(3)  queens 

2.  dissimilarities 

a.  bees  cooperative  and  disin- 
terested 

b.  ants  war-like 

B.  Problem:  How  would  you  rec- 
ognize an  ant? 

1.  an  insect 

2.  small  ants  (red  and  black  ants) 

3.  large,  brown  carpenter  ants 

C.  Problem:  What  do  ants  eat? 

1.  other  insects 

2.  honeydew  from  aphids 

3.  grain  and  crumbs 

D.  Problem:  What  is  the  mode  of  life 
in  an  ant-hill? 

1.  location  and  construction 

2.  wedding  flight 

a.  latter  part  of  June 

b.  queens  and  drones  acquire 
wings  and  discard  them  after 
flight 

c.  swarm  (all  of  one  specie  of 
ant  at  one  time) 

3.  egg  laying  by  the  queen 

a.  average  of  one  egg  every  two 
minutes  (Turn  to  page  64) 


8 


CLOSEUP  OF  NEST,  SIDE  CUT  AWAY,  EXPOSING  THE 
INTERIOR  CONSISTING  OF  FIVE  TIERS  OF  CELLS 


CLOSEUP  OF  ONE  TIER 
SHOWING  HUNDREDS 
OF  CELLS 


Photographs  by 
Lynwood  M.  Chace 


YOUNG  YELLOW  JACKET  HORNET  JUST  AFTER  EMERGING  FROM  CELL 


QUEEN  WASP  JUST  AFTER  EMERGING  FROM  CELL 


9 


Study 


A Unit  In  Elementary  Science  FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


BY  MARGARET  E.  PARRY 


One  day  in  our  science  class,  while  discussing  seeds  and 
how  they  travel,  one  of  the  boys  became  enthusiastic 
about  bees.  He  had  recently  visited  an  uncle  who  kept 
them.  The  uncle  was  invited  to  come  to  school  and  tell 
us  about  bees.  When  he  came  he  brought  his  movies 
which  told  a vivid  story  about  them.  He  gave  us  a bee 
hive  to  place  in  the  window  so  that  we  could  watch  the 
bees.  The  following  unit  was  developed. 

STUDY  GUIDE 

T Social  Bees 


II  Honey  bees  Community 

A Kind  of  bees 

1  Workers 

a Largest  class 

b Smallest  class 

c Undeveloped  female 

d Performs  all  work 

2  Males 

a Larger  than  the  workers 

b Hairy  body 

c Performs  no  tasks 

d Killed  at  approach  of  winter 

3  Females  or  Queens 

a Same  egg  as  worker 

b Different  food 

c Mating  of  queen 

d Largest  body 

e Lay  eggs 

f Has  sting 

g Care  of  Queens 

h Battles  of  Queens 

i Swarming 

B Community  life 

1 Wax  secreting 

2.  . .Care  of  hive 

a Comb  building 

b Cleanliness  of  hive 

c Ventilation 

d Guarding  hive 

3 Egg  laying 

a How  eggs  are  placed 

b Number  laid 

4. . . . . .Bee  scouts 

a Getting  food 

b Getting  nectar  for  honey 

5  Developing  of  young 

a Egg 

(1)  Size 

(2)  Shape 

(3)  Time  to  hatch 

6  Wintering 

7  Enemies  of  the  bees 

a Insects 

b Disease 

III  Bumble  bee 

A Appearance 


1  Size 

2  Color 

3  Sting 

B Community  life 

1  Ready  made  nests 

2  Wax  in  cells 

3  Females  live  through  winter 

4  Fertilization  of  flowers 

5  Guest  bumble  bee 

IV  Solitary  bee 

A Carpenter  bee 

B Mason  bee 

V  Value  of  bee  to  man 

A Honey 

B Wax 

C Pollenization 


PROCEDURE 

After  the  study  guide  was  made  we  listed  ways  we  may 
develop  it. 


1  Find  pictures 

2  Read  stories  and  poems 

3  Write  and  sing  songs 

4  Write  stories  and  poems 

5  Make  booklets 

6  Keep  word  lists 

7  Play  games 

8  List  social  groups 


OBJECTIVES 
Social  Habits 
Cooperation 
Knowledges 
Skills 

Appreciation 

CORRELATION 

1  Spelling New  words  found  in  our  unit 

2  Reading 

Stories 

Poems 

3  Language 

Picture  study 

Stories Individual  and  group 

Plays Individual  and  group 

Poems  and  Riddles Original-group  and  indi- 

vidual 


4  Music 

5  Art 


Booklets 

Charts 

Posters 


REVIEW  ACTIVITIES 
I General  Questions 

1  What  is  the  bee’s  food? 

2  On  what  are  the  young  fed?  (Turn  to  page  63) 


10 


HONEYBEES 

A UNIT  OF  WORK  IN  NATURE  STUDY 

MARGARET  FITZSIMMONS 

FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


OBJECTIVES 

1.  To  make  pupils  realize : 

a.  How  interesting  and  intelli- 
gent honeybees  are. 

b.  That  honeybees  work  together 
in  groups  to  build  their  homes 
and  store  their  food. 

c.  That  if  it  were  not  for  the 
honeybee,  we  should  have  to 
go  without  many  fruits  and 
vegetables. 

d.  That  honeybees  help  the  farm- 
er and  that  they  are  the  only 
insects  which  make  any  contri- 
bution to  the  food  of  man. 

OUTLINE  FOR  STUDY 

The  following  outline  was  used  to 
guide  the  children  in  their  study  and 
observations : 

1.  Characteristics. 

(1)  Winged  insect 

(2)  Tongue  for  gathering  nectar 

(3)  Sight 

(4)  Smell 

(5)  Hind  feet  for  carrying  pollen 

2.  Food. 

(1)  Honey 

(2)  Beebread 

3.  Classes  of  Honeybees. 

(1)  Queens  or  females 

a.  slender  with  long  bodies 

b.  lay  eggs 

c.  have  stings 

d.  live  for  about  three  years 

(2)  Drones  or  males 

a.  have  no  sting 

b.  larger  than  the  workers 

c.  do  not  work 

d.  are  fed  by  the  workers 

(3)  Workers 

a.  largest  class 

b.  perform  all  the  work 

(a)  make  the  cells 

(b)  care  for  the  queen, 
drones,  and  babies 

(c)  gather  nectar  and  pol- 
len 

4.  Apiaries. 

(1)  Types  of  beehive 

a.  old  fashioned  beehive 

b.  modern  square  boxes 

(2)  Honey 

a.  strained 

b.  comb 

CORRELATIONS 


(a)  informational  sentences 
about  bees 

(b)  oral  riddles 
b.  Written 

(a)  informational  sentences 
about  bees 

2.  Reading. 

a.  Library  books 

b.  Charts  of  new  words 

c.  Seatwork  assignments 

3.  Spelling. 

a.  Simple  words  taken  from  vo- 
cabulary 

4.  Art. 

a.  Paper  cutting 

b.  Crayon  illustrations 

5.  Vocabulary.  (Arranged  alpha- 
betically by  pupils.) 


A. 

fold 

poison 

air 

food 

pounds 

B. 

flight 

Q- 

bees 

G. 

queen 

boxes 

grown 

R. 

baskets 

guard 

royal 

babies 

H. 

S. 

bread 

head 

sting 

brood 

honey 

summer 

blow 

hive 

small 

busy 

hook 

sac 

C. 

J. 

smoke 

chew 

jelly 

stays 

carry 

juice 

stomach 

comb 

K. 

sided 

clean 

kill 

scouts 

cells 

L. 

same 

cool 

legs 

suits 

clover 

lives 

swell 

close 

long 

T. 

D. 

lays 

thin 

drones 

M. 

thousand 

dry 

male 

trunk 

dust 

mother 

W. 

E. 

millions 

wings 

eyes 

N. 

wax 

eggs 

nectar 

warm 

eat 

nurse 

workers 

F. 

0. 

water 

flowers 

opens 

winter 

fan 

P. 

wooden 

fight 

pockets 

Y. 

flesh 

pollen 

yellow 

TESTS  FOR  SEATWORK 

1.  Yes  or  No  Sentences. 

Put  an  X after  the  sentences  that 
you  think  are  right  and  an  O after 
those  that  you  think  are  wrong. 

a.  Three  queens  live  in  one  hive. 

b.  The  pollen  gatherers  fill  the 


baskets  on  their  hind  legs  with 
pollen. 

c.  The  drones  can  sting. 

d.  Bees  gather  sweet  juice  called 
nectar  from  the  flowers. 

e.  Smoke  is  blown  into  the  hive 
to  make  the  bees  sting. 

f.  Pollen  dust  is  used  to  make 
beebread. 

g.  Bees  fan  fresh  air  into  the 
hive. 

h.  A bee  has  many  eyes. 

i.  A beehive  is  kept  very  clean. 

j.  A bee  fights  by  using  her  sting. 
Key  for  scoring:  X = Yes,  0 = No: 

a-0;  b-x;  c-0;  d-x;  e-x;  f-x;  g-x; 
h-x;  i-x;  j-x. 

2.  Classification. 

Below  each  of  the  following  column 
heads  write  the  letters  of  the  sen- 
tences which  tell  about  it. 

Queen  Drone  Workers 
ABC 

a.  I gather  pollen. 

b.  I am  the  mother  of  the  hive. 

c.  I am  a fat  bee. 

d.  I have  to  be  fed. 

e.  I lay  eggs. 

f.  I have  a short  tongue. 

g.  I make  wax. 

h.  I am  very  long  and  thin. 

i.  I have  a long  tongue. 

j.  I like  to  eat  honey. 

Key  for  scoring 

ABC 
b c a 

d d g 

e f i 

h j j 

j 

3.  Blank  filling. 

Fill  in  the  blanks  With  the  correct 
word  from  the  list  below. 

a.  Wild  honeybees  lived  in  hol- 
low   . 

b.  Each  bee  has  her  own 

to  do. 

c.  Bees  save  enough  food  for 


d.  Workers  feed  the  queen 


e.  Bees  carry  from 

flower  to  flower. 

f.  The  workers  are  the 

bees  in  the  hive. 

g.  When  young  bees  are  fifteen 
days  old,  they  are  ready  to 


1.  Language, 
a.  Oral 


11 


h.  A bee’s  sting  (Turn  to  page  56) 


ANTS 

A CORRELATION  OF  NATURE  STUDY  AND  OTHER  SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

MARGARET  FITZSIMMONS 

FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


OUTLINE  FOR  STUDY 

The  following  outline  was  de- 
veloped to  guide  the  children  in  their 
study  and  observations. 

I.  Parts  of  the  ant. 

1.  Head 

2.  Thorax 

3.  Abdomen 

4.  Legs 

5.  Wings 

II.  Classes. 

1.  Male 

a.  Usually  winged 

b.  Does  not  work 

c.  Short  lived 

2.  Female 

a.  Largest  form 

b.  Winged 

c.  Lays  all  eggs 

3.  Workers 

a.  Smallest  form 

b.  Most  numerous 

c.  Does  all  the  work 

d.  Wingless 

III.  Mode  of  Life. 

1.  All  species  social 

2.  Plant  dwellers 

a.  Nests  in  dead  trees 

b.  Nests  in  living  plants 

3.  Soil  dwellers 

a.  Manner  of  Nests 
Galleries 
Chambers 

b.  Regular  tasks 
Keeping  nest  clean 
Securing  food 
Feeding  young 

IV.  Choice  of  Food. 

1.  Flesh  eaters 

2.  Plant  lice  kept  as  cows 

3.  Seed  eaters 

4.  Fungus  eaters 

ACTIVITIES 

I.  Language. 

1.  Oral 

a.  Informational  sentences  about 
ants 

b.  Oral  riddles 

2.  Written 

a.  Informational  sentences  about 
ants 

II.  Reading. 

1.  Library  books 

2.  Charts  of  new  words 

3.  Seatwork  assignments 

III.  Spelling. 

ant  feelers  holes 

soil  wings  food 


Editor's  Note:  The  study  of  ants  is  par- 
ticularly appropriate  for  the  month  pre- 
ceding summer  vacation.  At  picnics  in  the 
country  the  children  will  all  have  experi- 
ences with  ants  and  this  outline  affords  an 
opportunity  to  lead  them  to  regard  these 
busy  little  insects  not  as  pests  but  as  very 
lively  objects  of  interest. 


(2)  The  Queen  ant  takes  care  of 
the 

a.  workers  b.  eggs  c.  cows 

(3)  An  ant  makes  its  home  of 
a.  brick  b.  hay  c.  sand 

(4)  On  its  legs  the  ant  has 

a.  claws  b.  brushes  c.  rings 

(5)  Ants  plant 

a.  corn  b.  mushrooms  c.  hay 


(6)  Some  workers  are 

IV.  Art. 

a.  happy  b.  blind  c.  sad 
(7)  In  its  jaws  the  ant  carries 

1.  Paper  cutting 

a.  stones  b.  food  c.  boxes 

2.  Crayon  illustrations 

(8)  From  the  cows  they  get 

V.  Vocabulary. 

a.  eggs  b.  grain  c.  honeydew 

ants 

ceiling 

moving 

KEY  FOR  SCORING 

male 

mushrooms 

soil 

female 

cattle 

fighting 

(1)  a (4)  b (7)  b 

wings 

cows 

brush 

(2)  b (5)  b (8)  c 

wingless 

feed 

comb 

(3)  c (6)  b 

grain 

jaws 

head 

b. 

workers 

carrying 

eggs 

( 1 ) Carpenter  ants  bore  through 

clean 

nurse 

guard 

a.  fences  b.  trees  c.  apples 

queen 

food 

door 

( 2 ) The  ant  uses  its  jaws  for 

enemy 

pathways 

stones 

a.  singing  b.  flying  c.  digging 

sideways 

tunnel 

sand 

(3)  The  ant  uses  its  feelers  for 

feelers 

moving 

nest 

a.  running  b.  jumping  c. 

bottom 

eyes 

sidewalk 

tapping 

stones 

blind 

colony 

( 4 ) The  ant  washes  herself  like  a 

honeydew 

soil 

swarm 

a.  bird  b.  elephant  c.  cat 

red 

battles 

milk 

( 5 ) Some  ants  are 

black 

underground 

lice 

a.  blind  b.  sad  c.  happy 

gardener 

milking 

leaves 

(6)  Ants  eat 

protect 

stroke 

trees 

a.  apples  b.  mushrooms  c. 

VI.  Types  of  Seatwork. 

corn 

1.  Blank  filling 

(7)  From  the  cattle  ants  get 

a.  Ants 

have  

feelers. 

a.  honeydew  b.  corn  c.  apple 

b.  Ants  have 

legs. 

(8)  The  ants  build  barns  for  the 

c.  An  ant  has  

parts  to 

a.  workers  b.  cattle  c.  Queens 

its  body. 

KEY  FOR  SCORING 

d.  Ants  cross  their  when 

they  meet. 

e.  Ants  move  their sideways. 

f.  Ants  have  on  their 

front  legs. 

Cl)  jaws  (4)  three 

(2)  two  (5)  six 

(3)  feelers  (6)  brushes 


(1)  b — trees 

(2)  c — digging 

(3)  c — tapping 

(4)  c — cat 

(5)  a — blind 

(6)  b — mushrooms 

(7)  a — honeydew 

(8)  b — cattle 


KEY  FOR  SCORING 

( 1)  e (4)  c 

(2)  a (5)  b 

(3)  d (6)  f 

2.  Multiple  choice. 

a. 

(1)  The  ant  is  always 

a.  working  b.  singing  c.  cry- 
ing 


3.  Yes  and  No  Sentences 
a. 

(1)  Ants  are  very  clean. 

(2)  An  ant  has  six  feelers. 

'3)  Ants  keep  horses. 

(4)  The  Queen  ant  takes  care  of 
the  eggs. 

(5)  Some  workers  are  blind. 

(6)  Ants  make  their  houses  out 

of  grass.  ( Turn  to  page  55j 


12 


FISH,  FHOCS,  REPTILES 


GARDEN  SNAIL  POND  SNAILS 


SNAIL  FEEDING 


SNAILS  AND  CRAYFISH 


MATERIAL  FOR  NATURE  STUDY  LESSONS 

GLENN  O.  BLOUGH,  Assistant  Professor  of  Science,  State  College  of  Education,  Greeley,  Colorado:  IDA  K.  BRINK 


THE  SNAIL 

1.  Questions  for  study : 

a.  Examine  a snail  under  a reading 
glass  and  see  how  much  you  can 
find  out  about  it. 

b.  How  does  the  snail  protect  it- 
self? 

c.  What  does  it  eat  ? 

d.  How  does  it  eat  and  move  ? 

e.  Where  do  young  snails  come 
from? 

2.  Young  snails: 

Some  day,  when  you  are  looking  at 
your  aquarium,  you  may  find  a lump 
of  clear  jelly  fastened  to  the  side  of 
the  glass.  Unless  you  look  closely  you 
may  not  see  it  because  it  is  almost 
the  color  of  the  glass.  If  you  look  at  it 
through  a reading  glass,  you  will  see 


SNAILS  IN  THEIR  SHELLS 


Eoitoe's  Note:  Th*  photographs  tor  tha  il- 
lustration of  this  article  ware  supplied 
through  the  courtesy  of  The  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History. 


that  this  jelly  is  made  up  of  many 
tiny  dots.  These  are  snail’s  eggs. 

Soon  after  the  eggs  hatch,  the 
young  snails  will  begin  to  creep  away 
from  the  jelly  in  which  they  were 
laid.  Since  the  goldfish  in  your 
aquarium  may  eat  the  young  snails, 
you  may  want  to  take  them  out. 
Should  you  do  this,  handle  them  very 
carefully  and  place  them  in  a small 
jar  of  water  until  they  have  grown 
too  large  for  the  fish  to  eat.  Then  you 
may  put  them  back  into  your  aquari- 
um. Put  some  water 
plants  into  the  small 
jar  for  the  snails  to 
eat.  They  will  need  the 
plants  for  food  as  they 
grow. 

3.  The  snail’s  mouth 
and  tongue: 

Many  people  have 
never  seen  the  mouth 
of  a snail  but,  if  you 
look  closely  when  you 
are  watching  the  snails 
in  your  aquarium,  you 
can  see  the  mouth.  It  is 
very  small  and  seems 
always  to  be  opening 
and  closing.  The  snail 
is  eating  as  it  creeps 
along  over  the  glass. 
With  a reading  glass 
you  may  be  able  to  see 
the  tongue  when  it 
comes  out  of  the  mouth 
as  the  snail  eats.  As  the 
L tongue  moves  back  and 
forth,  it  scrapes  off  the 


tiny  plants  and  animals  that  live  on 
the  glass  and  the  blades  of  the  water 
plants.  These  plants  and  animals — 
like  those  that  the  fish  eat — are  so 
small  that  you  cannot  see  them  with- 
out a microscope.  Sometimes,  if  the 
sides  of  your  aquarium  are  green 
with  these  small  plants,  you  may  find 
a tiny  path  that  shows  where  a snail 
has  cleaned  them  off  the  glass. 

Some,  kinds  of  snails  breathe  un- 
der water,  just  as  fish  do,  but  other 
kinds  must  come  to  the  top  for  air. 
They  take  in  oxygen  in  breathing 
just  as  fish  do. 

4.  The  snail’s  house : 

The  snail  always  carries  its  house 
with  it.  It  never  needs  to  go  away 
from  home  nor  to  hurry  home  before 
dark.  Since  the  day  it  hatched  from  a 
tiny  egg,  it  has  lived  in  its  shell- 
house.  A snail  could  not  leave  its 
shell  even  if  it  wished  to  do  so,  be- 
cause its  soft  body  parts  are  fastened 
to  the  shell.  The  hard  shell  protects 
the  soft  parts  inside.  Some  of  the 
softer  body  parts  help  to  make  the 
shell.  As  the  snail  grows,  its  house 
gets  larger.  Perhaps  you  may  notice 
a small  snail  and  a large  one  close 
together.  If  you  do,  you  will  see  that, 
as  the  snail  gets  larger,  the  shell  adds 
more  curves  to  itself. 

5.  The  snail’s  foot : 

Watch  the  snail  as  it  moves  The 
flat  part  of  the  body  that  presses 
tightly  against  the  glass  is  called  the 
foot.  A snail  you  see  has  only  one  foot, 
but  that  is  all  it  needs  to  enable  it  to 
creep  slowly  along.  Most  snails  give 
off  a slimy  material  that  helps  the 
foot  to  slip  along  easily.  If  you  hold 
one  in  your  hand  as  it  crawls  along 
you  can  feel  the  slime. 

6.  Things  to  do : 

Perhaps  you  may  like  to  do  some 
of  these  things: 


14 


system 
b/ood  vesse/ 


A CRAYFISH 


ORGANS  OF  A CRAYFISH 


THOMPSON 

A FEMALE  CARRYING  EGGS 


a.  Draw  a snail  and  label  the 
mouth,  foot,  and  shell. 

b.  Find  as  many  different  kinds  of 
snails  as  you  can. 

c.  Raise  some  young  snails  from 
eggs  and  give  them  to  a friend 
who  has  an  aquarium. 

d.  Find  a picture  of  a snail’s  mouth 
and  tongue  and  show  it  to  your 
classmates. 

e.  Look  in  the  woods  for  snails. 

f.  Scrape  some  of  the  green  plants 
from  the  glass  in  your  aquarium 
and  put  it  under  a microscope. 
Show  them  to  your  classmates 
and  tell  them  that  snails  eat 
these  plants. 

THE  CRAYFISH 

1.  Questions  for  study : 

a.  What  are  the  parts  of  the  body 
of  a crayfish  that  help  it  to  live 
in  water? 

b.  What  do  crayfish  eat  ? 

c.  Where  would  you  expect  to  find 
a crayfish? 

d.  From  where  do  young  crayfish 
come? 

e.  What  do  they  do  in  winter. 

2.  How  crayfish  live : 

The  crayfish  is  a small  animal, 
with  many  jointed  legs,  that  lives  in 
fresh  water.  Many  people  call  these 
animals  crabs,  but  crabs  live  only  in 
the  salty  water  of  the  oceans,  while 
crayfish  live  only  in  fresh  water 
lakes  and  streams. 

A small  crayfish  is  easier  to  keep 
in  an  aquarium  than  a full  grown 
one.  The  sand  and  stones  in  the  bot- 
tom of  your  aquarium  make  a good 
home  for  a crayfish.  Watch  it  as  it 
burrows  under  one  of  the  stones.  It 
will  probably  spend  much  of  its  time 
sitting  under  a stone  with  its  feelers 
sticking  out  far  enough  to  wave  back 
and  forth.  Drop  a very  small  piece 
of  fresh  meat  in  front  of  these  feel- 
ers and  watch  the  animal  jump  out 
after  it. 

3.  The  food  crayfish  eat : 

Crayfish  live  in  small  burrows  un- 
der stones  in  running  brooks  and, 
when  food  floats  past  them,  they 
spring  out  to  seize  it.  They  catch 
snails,  tadpoles,  and  young  insects 


as  they  go  swimming  by.  Sometimes 
they  eat  one  another.  Usually  they 
hunt  for  their  food  at  night. 

4.  How  a crayfish  moves : 

You  will  be  surprised  to  see  how 
very  fast  a crayfish  can  move.  It  can 
go  either  forward  or  backward  with 
great  speed  and,  because  of  its  many 
legs,  it  can  also  easily  move  side- 
wise.  If  you  look  carefully,  you  will 
see,  growing  out  of  the  body  of  the 
crayfish,  many  different  kinds  of 
legs.  Some  are  used  for  feeding,  some 
for  walking,  and  some  to  hold  the 
eggs  when  they  are  hatching.  At  the 
ends  of  two  of  the  front  legs  there 
are  large  pincers  which  help  the  cray- 
fish to  catch  food.  Sometimes  they 
catch  hold  of  the  toes  of  small  boys 
who  are  wading  in  a creek  where  cray- 
fish live ! Notice  how  the  back  part  of 
a crayfish  folds  under.  When  this 
folded  piece  is  forcibly  straightened 
out,  it  pushes  the  crayfish  backward 
through  the  water  at  great  speed. 
When  you  lift  a crayfish  from  the 
water  it  often  straightens  out  this 
“tail”  with  a quick  jerk  and  spatters 
water  on  you.  If  you  always  lift  a 
crayfish  by  the  hard 
shell  near  the  front,  it 
cannot  reach  you  with 
its  long  pincers. 

5.  The  shell  of  a cray- 
fish: 

As  a young  crayfish 
grows,  its  outer  cover- 
ing becomes  too  tight 
for  it.  Then  a strange 
thing  happens.  The 
hard  shell  splits  across 
the  top  and  the  animal 
slowly  draws  itself  out 
of  its  outer  shell.  Even 
the  tiny  legs  come  out 
of  their  shell-covering. 

The  old  shell  is  left  be- 
hind but,  in  a few  days, 
the  crayfish  grows  a 
new  shell  that  is  large 
enough  for  it  to  live  in 
comfortably!  Before  a 
crayfish  is  full  grown, 
it  sheds  its  outer  cover- 
ing several  times. 

Besides  being  able  to 


make  itself  a new  shell,  a crayfish  can 
do  another  very  interesting  thing.  If 
it  loses  a leg  in  a struggle  with  an- 
other animal,  or  by  an  accident,  it 
grows  a new  one ! Crayfish  have  been 
known  to  grow  new  feelers  and  even 
new  eyes! 

6.  Young  crayfish : 

Young  crayfish  hatch  from  eggs. 
The  mother  crayfish  fastens  the  eggs 
with  a glue-like  substance  under  the 
back  part  of  her  body.  In  spring,  you 
may  easily  find  a crayfish  with  eggs 
and  keep  her  in  your  aquarium  until 
the  eggs  hatch. 

7.  Things  to  do : 

Perhaps  you  may  like  to  do  these 
things : 

a.  Go  to  a brook  and  hunt  for  cray- 
fish. 

b.  Look  carefully  at  a crayfish  as  it 
moves  and  try  to  find  out  which 
pairs  of  legs  it  uses. 

c.  Draw  a crayfish  and  name  the 
parts. 

d.  Find  pictures  of  crayfish  and 
show  them  to  your  classmates. 

e.  Keep  a mother  crayfish  with 
eggs  and  try  to  raise  the  young. 


CLOSE-UP  OF  A CRAYFISH 


IS 


UNDERWOOD 

THE  FLYING  FOX 


QUEER  FLYING  THINGS 

AN  APPROACH  THROUGH  NATURE  STUDY  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  THE  AIRPLANE 

C.  B.  DAVIS 


M odern  inventors  have  achieved 
marvelous  results  with  the  airplane 
and  other  devices  for  aerial  travel 
but,  long  before  the  airplane  was  in- 
vented, two  little  animals  used  a sim- 
ilar principle  in  successful  flight. 
Both  the  flying  squirrel  and  the  flying 
fish  sail  through  the  air  and  rise  and 
fall  on  an  airplane  of  nature’s  in- 
vention. 

THE  FLYING  SQUIRREL 

Our  common  flying  squirrel,  with  a 
thin,  wing-like  membrane  stretched 
tightly  between  its  extended  legs,  is 
a typical  airplane.  Thoreau,  in  speak- 
ing of  such  a squirrel,  says:  “It 
sprang  from  a maple  at  a height  of 
twenty-eight  and  one-half  feet  from 
the  ground,  and  landed  easily  and 
lightly  on  the  ground  at  the  foot  of 
another  tree  fifty  and  one-half  feet 
away.  Its  flight  was  not  a regular  de- 
scent. It  varied  from  a straight  line 
both  horizontally  and  vertically.  It 


THE  FRUIT  BAT 


Editor's  Note:  An  approach  through  na- 
ture study  is  a very  advantageous  way  of 
motivating  a unit  of  activity.  This  article 
affords  such  an  approach  for  an  airplane 
unit. 


skimmed  much  like  a hawk,  and  part 
of  its  flight  was  nearly  horizontal. 
There  were  six  trees  from  six  inches 
to  a foot  in  diameter  between  the  be- 
ginning and  the  ending  of  its  flight, 
and  these  it  skimmed  partly  round 
and  passed  through  their  thinner 
twigs.  It  did  not,  as  I could  perceive, 
touch  a single  twig.” 

Other  observers  have  seen  numbers 
of  these  little  creatures  engaged  in 
similar  sportive  gambols  which 
seemed  to  have  had  no  other  object 
than  playfulness  or  the  mere  pleasure 
of  flight.  Their  movements,  however, 
are  not  flying  as  a bird  flies,  for  the 
membrane  that  supports  their  bodies 
while  in  the  air  is  motionless  and  acts 
somewhat  like  the  parachute  of  the 
aviator  when  he  “bails  out”. 

THE  FLYING  FISH 

The  “wings”  of  the  two  known 
kinds  of  flying  fish  are  the  pectoral 
fins  grown  to  an  enormous  size.  The 


FLYING  FISH  DROPPING  BACK  INTO  THE  OCEAN 


FLYING  FISH  IN  THE  AIR 


Iff 


COURTESY.  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 


COURTESY.  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 


THE  FLYING  FROG 


OCEANIC  FLYING  FISH 


FRESH  WATER  FLYING  FISH 


kind  most  commonly  seen  is  called 
the  flying  herring  and  resembles  the 
garpike.  They  do  not  move  their  fins 
when  flying,  but  seem  rather  to  float 
on  the  wind,  their  flights  sometimes 
extending,  in  calm  weather,  to  a dis- 
tance of  more  than  an  eighth  of  a 
mile. 

When  they  land  on  the  deck  of  a 
ship,  as  they  sometimes  do,  it  is  sup- 
posed that  their  flight  has  been  de- 
flected by  air  currents  which  the  wind 
makes  as  it  strikes  against  the  side 
of  the  vessel  and  which  lift  the  fish 
above  the  deck.  Some  observers  say 
that  they  can  change  the  direction  of 
their  flight  at  will,  but  it  is  more 
probable  that  they  are  at  the  mercy 
of  the  wind.  The  flying  fish  are  sup- 
posed to  leap  from  the  water  to  escape 
the  attack  of  a hungry  enemy. 

THE  FLYING  FROG 

In  Java  and  some  other  places  oc- 
curs a remarkable  flying  tree  frog — 
or,  according  to  some  observers,  a 
tree-toad — which  has  a green  back, 
a white  belly,  and  a bright,  orange- 
colored  membrane  between  its  toes, 
which  are  tipped  by  circular  disks. 
This  frog,  like  the  chameleon,  can 
change  its  color  according  to  that  of 
its  surroundings.  It  feeds  at  night  on 


insects  and,  when  disturbed,  can  leap 
out  of  the  tree  in  which  it  is  seated, 
and  sail  away  to  safety.  The  mem- 
brane between  its  toes  probably  acts 
as  a parachute  and  not  as  a flying  ap- 
paratus. The  toe  disks,  like  similar 
enlargements  on  our  common  tree- 
toad,  presumably  act  like  suckers  to 
hold  the  animal  firmly  in  place 
against  the  trunk  or  limb  of  the  tree. 

THE  FLYING  SPIDER 

In  favored  localities  these  little  gos- 
samer spiders  occur  in  such  large 
numbers  that  the  ground  and  the 
herbage  over  a considerable  area  are 
often  whitened  by  the  threads  which 
they  have  spun  and  which,  having 
served  their  purpose,  have  been 
thrown  away.  Just  why  this  spider 
takes  his  floating  excursions  and  why 
so  many  are  active  only  in  the  au- 
tumn are  not  positively  known. 

In  Texas,  however,  occurs  another 
gossamer  spider  which  has  similar 
floating  habits  and  which  uses  its 
sailing  webs  to  carry  its  young  from 
place  to  place  and  thus  to  scatter 

them  over  a wide  extent  of  country. 
This  little  creature  weighs  only  about 


two  grains.  She  spins  a hammock- 
shaped structure  of  web,  cuts  it  loose 
when  she  feels  that  it  has  sufficient 
lifting  power,  and,  with  her  young 
ones  clustered  on  her  back,  sails  be- 
fore the  wind,  apparently  trusting  to 
luck  to  bring  her  down  in  a place  fa- 
vorable for  herself  and  family.  Her 
balloons  have  been  seen  floating  at  a 
height  of  from  one  thousand  to  two 
thousand  feet  and,  before  a brisk 
wind,  they  may  fly  for  a hundred 
miles  or  more. 

Other  queer  flying  creatures  are 
the  bats  of  which  there  are  about  300 
kinds  including  the  flying  fox  of  India, 
which  has  a wing  spread  of  nearly 
five  feet,  and  the  fruit  bat,  which  does 
so  much  harm  in  Australia  and  other 
tropical  countries. 

None  of  these  creatures  (except 
the  bats),  not  even  those  of  man 
himself,  are  true  flying  machines. 
They  float  and  sail  in  the  air  only 
because  they  take  advantage  of  cer- 
tain natural  laws.  The  human  aviator 
uses  an  engine  to  force  his  machine 
forward.  The  flying  squirrels,  frogs, 
and  fish  start  by  leaping,  and  make 
their  descent  gradual  by  the  help  of  a 
parachute.  The  ( Turn  to  page  57) 


THE  FLYING  FROG 


THE  FLYING  SQUIRREL 


FROGS 

A NATURE  STUDY  UNIT  WITH  CLASS  ACTIVITIES 

H.  ROLL 

FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


BULLFROG  AND  LEOPARD  FROG 


P rogs  are  found 
in  all  parts  of 
the  United  States 
except  in  deserts 
and  other  arid 
regions.  They  are 
amphibious  ani- 
mals, that  is, 
they  are  so  made 
that  they  can  live 
either  in  air  or  in 
water,  and  they 
must  have  access 
to  water  to  com- 
plete their  life’s 
cycle.  There  are 
many  kinds  of 
frogs  in  the  Unit- 
ed States  but  the 
most  common  of 
those  found  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains are  the  bullfrog — so  called  be- 
cause of  his  deep  bass  voice — the 
spotted  leopard  frog,  the  small  green 
frog,  the  tree  frog,  and  the  peeping 
frog  of  the  meadows,  the  two  last  of 
which  are  properly  called  hylas.  The 
species  of  frogs  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  are  somewhat  different 
but  the  life  cycles  of  all  are  much  the 
same. 

LIFE  CYCLE  OF  THE  FROG 

Frogs  are  hibernating  animals.  All 
winter  they  sleep  in  the  mud  at  the 
bottom  of  a swamp  or  pond  but,  when 
the  weather  warms  up  in  the  spring, 
the  ice  leaves  the  pond,  and  the  frost 
comes  out  of  the  ground,  they  awaken 
and  come  out  to  sun  themselves. 
Usually  we  do  not  notice  them  until 
we  hear  their  chorus  at  night.  The 
male  frogs  are  the  singers;  the  fe- 
males do  not  sing.  The  male  takes  a 
deep  breath,  closes  his  mouth  and 
nose,  and  applies  pressure  to  the  air 
between  his  lungs  and  his  mouth. 
This  forces  some  of  the  air  into  an 
air  sac  which  swells  so  as  to  form  the 
lump  which  we  see  under  his  chin. 
This  “balloon”  produces  his  “voice”. 

Frogs  eat  insects  but  cannot  see 
them  when  they  are  still  and  hence 
can  capture  them  only  when  they  are 
in  motion.  The  frog  has  a very  long 
tongue  which  is  covered  with  a sticky 
substance  and  with  which  he  is  a very 
accurate  marksman.  When  he  sees  an 
insect  flying  about  nearby,  he  takes 


one  well-directed  leap  toward  it  and 
snatches  it  out  of  the  air  with  his  long 
tongue. 

If  you  will  look  around  carefully  in 
the  tall  grasses  at  the  edge  of  a 
swamp  or  pond  you  will  probably  find 
a number  of  jelly-like  masses  which 
look  much  like  tapioca  pudding. 
These  are  the  eggs  of  a mother  frog. 
Inside  the  gluelike  outer  covering  of 
each  of  them  you  can  see  a tiny  black 
speck.  Within  about  a month  after 
the  eggs  are  laid,  this  speck  hatches 
into  a tiny  pollywog. 

The  life  cycle  of  a frog  may  be 
divided  for  convenience  into  the  fol- 
lowing stages: 

Stage  1.  The  egg  is  laid  in  the  water 
at  the  edge  of  a swamp  or  pond  and 
the  young  tadpole  lives  at  first  on  the 
gluey  substance  of  the  egg.  Soon, 
however,  he  develops  a beaklike 
mouth  with  which  he  scrapes  from 
plants  and  other  objects  in  the  water 
the  scum  on  which  he  feeds.  He  is 
obliged  to  keep  well  hidden  to  avoid 
being  eaten  for  dinner  by  a larger 
tadpole,  a fish,  or  some  other  denizen 
of  the  pond.  At  first  a tadpole  swims 
like  a fish  with  the  aid  of  a tail  and 
is  much  like  a fish  in  other  respects, 
but  he  soon  changes  into  an  air- 
breathing  animal  and  must  rise  to 
the  surface  every  few  moments  to 
breathe. 

Stage  2.  By  the  fifth  day  after  he 
starts  to  grow,  the  tadpole  has  de- 
veloped a strong  tail  which  enables 
him  to  move  about  freely  to  obtain 


pond  scum  and 
small  water  ani- 
mals for  food.  He 
also  uses  it  to 
escape  from  his 
numerous  ene- 
mies. Only  about 
one  tadpole  in  a 
hundred  lives  be- 
yond this  stage. 

Stage  3.  On  the 
eighth  day,  the 
tadpole’s  legs 
have  begun  to  de- 
velop. If  one  of 
his  toes,  or  even 
an  entire  leg,  is 
bitten  off  at  this 
stage,  it  will  grow 
out  again ; but 
this  marvelous  regeneration  can  take 
place  only  during  this  part  of  his 
life. 

Stage  4.  By  the  fourteenth  day, 
the  tadpole  is  about  twice  his  size  at 
the  previous  stage.  The  right  arm 
now  begins  to  develop  and  this  seems 
to  be  quite  a painful  process.  The 
tadpole  moves  about  very  little  at 
this  stage  but  stays  near  the  surface 
of  the  pond  because  the  right  arm 
grows  at  the  place  where  the  pore  for 
breathing  in  water  is  located.  The  left 
arm  now  begins  to  develop  and  after 
the  tadpole  gets  both  front  arms,  or 
legs,  he  can  hop  out  of  the  water  and 
live  equally  as  comfortably  on  land. 

Stage  5.  By  the  end  of  the  ninth 
week  all  four  legs  have  become  fully 
developed. 

Stage  6.  During  the  preceding 
stages,  the  tadpole’s  tail  has  been 
gradually  absorbed  and,  at  about  the 
eleventh  week,  the  tail  is  completely 
absorbed  and  he  has  become  a minia- 
ture frog. 

Stage  7.  A young  frog  takes  from 
three  to  five  years  to  develop  into  a 
mature  adult. 

The  adult  frog  is  an  air-breathing 
animal  although  he  can  remain  under 
water  for  quite  a long  time.  Hence 
he  can  pass  at  will  from  the  air  to 
the  water  and  back  again,  either  to 
seek  food  or  to  escape  from  his  en- 
emies. He  usually  stays  near  the 
edge  of  the  swamp  or  pond  and,  if 
placed  in  deep  water,  will  swim  fran- 
tically toward  the  ( Turn  to  page  55) 


18 


EWING  GALLOWAY 


I.  OBJECTIVES 

1.  To  develop  appreciation  of  na- 
ture 

2.  To  develop  interest  in  life  and 
habits  of  frogs 

II.  MATERIALS 

1.  Frogs’  eggs 

2.  Tadpoles 

III.  GENERAL  OUTLINE 

A.  Location 

1.  All  parts  of  the  United  States 
except  very  dry  regions 

B.  Eggs 

1.  Location 

2.  Size 

3.  Number 

4.  Appearance 

C.  Tadpoles 

1.  Shape 

2.  Manner  of  breathing 

3.  Length  of  life 

4.  Process  of  changing  into  a frog 

D.  Frog 

1.  size 

2.  eyes,  tongue,  feet 

3.  length  of  life 

4.  hibernation 

E.  Classes  of  frogs 

1.  Leopard  frog 

a.  most  common 

b.  color 

c.  number  of  eggs  laid 

2.  Peeper  frog 

a.  size 

b.  color 

c.  swelling  of  throat 

d.  where  found 

e.  food 

3.  Tree  frog 

a.  feet 


THE  FROG  UNIT 

A STUDY  OF  A FAVORITE  ANIMAL 

NOREEN  HUGHES 

FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


1.  sticky  pads  on  feet 

2.  walks  like  a fly 

b.  food 

1.  hunts  at  night 

2.  catches  ants,  gnats,  and  flies 

c.  home 

1.  trees 

a.  climbs  tallest  trees 

b.  hides  in  mossy  places 

2.  water 

a.  good  swimmer 

b.  likes  cool,  damp  places 

4.  Uses  of  frogs 

a.  help  to  destroy  insects 

b.  food 

IV.  OUTCOMES 

A.  Language 

1.  oral 

a.  informational  stories,  riddles, 
poems,  etc. 

2.  written 

a.  informational  stories  about 
frogs 

B.  Reading 

1.  children’s  references 

2.  vocabulary  chart 

3.  seatwork  assignments 


C.  Spelling 

jelly 

eggs 

pond 

legs 

hatched 

spring 

frogs 

mud 

gills 

tail 

lungs 

baby 

D.  Vocabulary 

spawn 

insects 

hibernate 

croak 

aquarium 

hoarse 

concert 

shrill 

weather 

tadpole 

moist 

absorb 

E.  Art 

1.  Free  illustrations,  paper  cutting, 
easel  work,  friezes,  etc. 

F.  Type  of  seatwork 

1.  Write  the  word  that  does  not 
belong  (phonics) 

a.  frog  spring  song  book 

b.  tadpole  milk  swimming  eggs 

c.  hat  pond  flies  pollywog 

d.  trees  girl  bark  moss 

e.  hops  jumps  sings  dances 

f.  gills  lungs  flag  breathe 

g.  legs  swing  tail  mouth 

h.  gnats  flowers  mosquitoes 

2.  Matching — tiny  peepers 

1.  Peepers  are 

2.  A peetper  is  about 


3.  A peeper  puffs  his  throat 

4.  The  eggs  of  a peeper 

5.  A peeper  has  a sweet 

6.  Peepers  are  heard  very 

7.  Peepers  change  colors 

8.  Some  peepers  climb 

9.  Peepers’  eggs  look 

10.  Peepers  still  sing  in 

a.  are  very  tiny 

b.  little  song 

c.  early  in  spring 

d.  very  small 

e.  like  the  tree  f-rog 

f.  look  like  seeds 

g.  late  autumn 

h.  one  inch  long 

i.  to  tops  of  trees 

j.  out  like  a balloon 

3.  Classification 

1.  Frogs  2.  Tadpoles 

a.  water  breather 

b.  long  tail 

c.  lung  breather 

d.  uses  gills 

e.  sleeps  all  winter 

f . croaks 

g.  hops 

h.  is  like  a fish 

i.  has  arms  and  legs 

4.  Multiple  choice 

1.  A tadpole  has a.  arms 

b.  legs  c.  tail 

2.  A frog  breathes  through 

a.  gills  b.  lungs  c.  air 

3.  A frog  buries  himself  in 

a.  water  b.  straw  c.  mud 

4.  A tadpole  loses  his  

a.  head  b.  tail  c.  ears 

5.  Young  tadpoles  do  not  have 


any a.  heads  b.  mouths 

c.  bodies 

6.  The  hatches  the  tad- 


poles. a.  mother  b.  sun  c.  water 

7.  A frog  grows  until  he  is  about 

years  old.  a.  ten  b.  two 

c.  five 

8.  A frog all  winter,  a.  hi- 

bernates b.  works  c.  hops 

1.  Leopard  Frog  2.  Peeper  Frog 

3.  Tree  Frog 

a.  smallest 

b.  most  common 

c.  changes  color 

d.  climbs  trees 

e.  three  to  four  inches  long 

f.  sits  for  hours 

g.  sticky  pads  on  feet 

h.  heard  very  early  in  spring. 

(Turn  to  page  61) 


19 


O MR.  FROG  begins  to  look  like  a real  tadpole 
“ though  he  is  still  very  much  in  his  infancy. 
(Tadpoles  in  a more  advanced  stage  hiding 
in  water  plants.) 


O MR.  FROG  after  his  third  week  as  a tadpole  changes 
*■*  his  appearance  remarkably.  (Third  week  development.) 


20 


5 


NOW  he  is  beginning  to  look  like  a real  lively  frog 
and  will  soon  have  forgotten  all  about  his  tadpole 
experiences.  (Tadpole  with  tail  about  half  absorbed.) 


HERE  is  our  young  Bullfrog  looking  quite 
fit  and  eager  for  adventure  in  the  outside 
world.  (Young  Bullfrog  after  tail  has  been 
absorbed.) 


Lessons  in 
Elementary  Science 

Photographs  by  Lynwood  M.  Chace 


HE  IS  now  a grown-up  Bull- 
frog, ready  to  go  forth  and 
seek  his  fortune.  (Adult 
Bullfrog  swimming  to  sur- 
face of  water.) 


O MR.  BULLFROG  sits  among 
the  lily  pads  on  the  shore 
and  meditates  about  his  fu- 
ture problems.  (Bullfrog 
resting  on  shore  of  pond.) 


21 


For  Primary  and  Intermediate  Grades 


Crusty,  the  Hermit  Crab 

A Science  Story  and  Song 

LYLA  WATERBURY  HAYNES 


Crusty  was  only  a quarter  of  an  inch  long.  He  didn’t 
have  a mother  or  father.  He  didn’t  have  a home. 
Poor  little  Crusty,  the  baby  Hermit  Crab! 

Crusty  wished  that  he  had  a home.  He  needed  it,  too. 
Only  that  morning  he  had  been  resting  in  a tidepool,  when 
a Sandpiper  came  along.  He  had  come  closer  and  closer 
until  he  was  almost  upon  Crusty. 

You  wouldn’t  expect  such  a young  crab  to  know  much, 
but  just  in  time  he  slid  into  the  pool  out  of  Mr.  Sand- 
piper’s reach.  The  Sandpiper  strained  and  stretched  but 
he  couldn’t  quite  pick  up  Crusty  with  his  sharp  bill.  If 
his  neck  had  been  longer,  like  a flamingo’s,  he  would  have 
had  a delicious  luncheon.  But  Crusty  remained  right 
where  he  was  in  the  blue  water.  Mr.  Sandpiper  stood 
around  for  awhile.  He  smoothed  his  white  feathered  vest 
and  straightened  his  speckled  coat  which  looked  like  the 
sand.  Still  nothing  happened.  The  little  crab  did  not 
move.  It  isn’t  much  fun  waiting  around,  so  pretty  soon 
Mr.  Sandpiper  gave  up,  and  went  down  the  shore,  bowing 
and  teetering  and  looking  for  sand  fleas,  which  were  easier 
to  catch  anyway. 

All  this  had  frightened  Crusty,  so  he  set  out  at  once  to 
find  a home.  He  would  never  be  safe  until  he  backed 
himself  into  a shell.  Then  Mr.  Sandpiper  couldn’t  get 
him,  or  if  he  did,  Mr.  Sandpiper  would  have  a good 
stomach  ache.  Indeed,  eating  shells  would  not  agree  with 
anybody! 

Crusty  dragged  himself  over  the  sand.  After  awhile 
he  found  a small  empty  periwinkle  shell  house.  It  looked 


quite  homey  so  he  entered.  He  backed  in  and  closed  the 
door  by  putting  his  hard  shelled  claw  into  the  opening. 

Crusty  was  happy  in  his  new  home.  He  felt  safe  and 
contented.  He  thought  he  would  live  there  forever. 
Little  did  he  know  how  soon  he  would  be  forced  to  move. 

One  day  Crusty  felt  something  pinching  him.  It  isn’t 
very  nice  to  be  pinched  and  he  wondered  what  it  could  be? 
He  looked  around  to  see  if  he  had  company.  But  there 
wasn’t  a soul  nearby!  Imagine  how  surprised  he  was 
when  he  discovered  that  he  had  grown,  and  the  shell 
apartment  had  become  too  small.  His  house  felt  like  a 
shoe  that  is  too  tight  but  he  squeezed  himself  back  into  it 
again.  He  wasn’t  going  to  take  a chance  of  Mr.  Sandpiper 
catching  him  out  of  doors. 

Next  morning  Crusty  bumped  along  looking  to  right 
and  left.  He  knew  exactly  the  kind  of  shell  house  he 
wanted.  It  wasn’t  long  before  he  found  one  which  seemed 
to  be  vacant.  To  make  sure  he  thrust  in  his  claw  and 
felt  around. 

Inside  he  found  a greenish  clam  worm.  That  was  all 
right.  Crusty  was  in  luck,  for  clam  worms  are  nice  to 
have  around.  They  eat  all  the  little  bugs  which  come  in 
to  bother.  So  Crusty  quickly  changed  houses. 

The  roommates  got  along  well  and  were  contented  to- 
gether for  some  time.  After  awhile  the  shell  house  which 
had  been  so  roomy  at  first  began  to  be  crowded.  So 
Crusty  knew  he  must  be  growing  again.  He  had  grown 
larger  and  stronger  so  he  started  out  at  once  to  find  a 
larger  house.  (Turn  to  par/c  ;>  7) 


THE  HERMIT  CRAB 


Lyla  W.  Haynes  Helen  T.  Burdette 


22 


TIE  TOAD  • A HELPFUL  CIRDEII  WORKER 

EVELYNE  STONE 


One  of  the  most  fascinating  workers  in  our  Victory  gar- 
dens this  summer  will  doubtless  be  the  helpful  little 
toad.  Children  are  always  interested  in  this  queer  little 
creature  and  therefore  he  makes  a very  good  subject  for 
a unit  of  work  or  a story-type  lesson.  Very  likely  your 
class  has  already  worked  out  such  a unit  or  lesson.  The 
little  quiz  on  this  page  may  be  used  in  connection  with 
your  unit  of  activity  or  it  may  be  given  as  a separate 
nature  test. 

If  the  children  have  not  already  studied  the  toad  in  the 


manner  indicated  above,  another  way  to  use  these  ques- 
tions is  to  give  them  to  the  class  and  let  them  search  for 
the  information  required.  Then  it  may  be  the  basis  of  a 
lively  question-and-answer  period  with  great  excitement 
as  to  who  has  been  able  to  answer  the  largest  number  of 
questions  about  the  gardener’s  friend. 

To  check  the  score,  count  5 for  each  correct  answer.  A 
grade  of  90  to  100  per  cent  is  excellent;  80  to  90  is  very 
good ; and  70  to  80  is  good.  Below  that — well,  the  children 
will  see  that  they  do  not  know  much  about  toads ! 


the  day  he  was  hatched  ? 

YES 

NO 

2.  Are  all  Mr.  Toad’s  rela- 
tives tadpoles  when  they 
are  first  hatched? 

YES 

NO 

3.  Are  any  of  his  relatives 
less  than  two  inches 
long? 

YES 

NO 

4.  Are  any  of  his  relatives 
more  than  six  inches 
long? 

YES 

NO 

5.  Does  Mr.  Toad  drink  as 
we  do? 

YES 

NO 

6.  Does  he  eat  much  ? 

YES 

NO 

7.  Is  his  tongue  fastened  in 
the  back  of  his  mouth? 

YES 

NO 

8.  Does  he  have  any  teeth  ? 

YES 

NO 

9.  Is  it  true,  as  some  people 
believe,  that  Mr.  Toad 
can  live  many  years 
without  air? 

YES 

NO 

10.  Is  it  true  that  you  will 
get  warts  if  you  handle 
Mr.  Toad? 

YES 

NO 

11.  Should  we  protect  Mr. 
Toad? 

YES 

NO 

12.  Does  Mr.  Toad  have  as 
many  enemies  as  Mr. 
Frog? 

YES 

NO 

13.  Does  he  have  any  way  of 
protecting  himself 
against  enemies? 

YES 

NO 

14.  Can  Mr.  Toad  and  his 
relatives  live  a long 
time? 

YES 

NO 

15.  Are  Mr.  Toad’s  legs  as 
long  as  Mr.  Frog’s  ? 

YES 

NO 

16.  When  he  sheds  his  skin 
does  he  leave  it  lying  on 
the  ground? 

YES 

NO 

17.  Does  Mr.  Toad  like  to 
live  in  damp  places  bet- 
ter than  in  dry  places? 

YES 

NO 

18.  Do  you  see  Mr.  Toad 
oftener  during  the  day 
than  at  night? 

19.  Does  Mr.  Toad  cover 
himself  up  when  he  goes 
to  bed  ? 

20.  Do  you  see  Mr.  Toad 
hopping  about  in  your 
garden  all  winter  ? 


YES  NO 


YES  NO 


YES  NO 


HERE  ARE  THE  ANSWERS: 

1.  No.  In  the  beginning,  he  was  a tad- 
pole and  lived  the  first  part  of  his 
life  in  water. 

2.  No.  The  “Jack-in-the-box”  toad  that 
lives  in  South  America  looks  just 
like  its  mother  when  it  is  hatched. 

3.  Yes.  The  oak  toad  is  only  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch  long  and  is 
found  in  the  southeastern  part  of 
the  United  States. 

4.  Yes.  The  Giant  Toad  that  lives  in 
Arizona  and  California  is  seven 
inches  long. 

5.  No.  He  drinks  by  soaking  himself 
full  of  water. 

6.  Yes.  He  fills  up  his  stomach  four 
times  a day.  To  do  this  he  must  eat 
nearly  all  the  time.  During  the 
summer  he  can  eat  as  many  as  ten 
thousand  insects. 

7.  No.  His  tongue  is  fastened  in  the 
front  of  his  mouth,  so  that  he  can 
throw  it  far  out  and  catch  insects 
and  other  food. 


CUTOUT  BY  JENNIE  M.  HAVER 


8.  No.  Unlike  Mr.  Frog,  Mr.  Toad  has 
no  teeth.  He  does  not  need  any  as 
his  diet  is  made  up  mostly  of  insects 
and  worms,  which  he  swallows 
whole. 

9.  No.  Mr.  Toad  needs  air  just  like  any 
other  land  creature. 

10.  No.  There  is  no  danger  of  Mr. 
Toad’s  causing  warts  if  you  handle 
him. 

11.  Yes.  Mr.  Toad  destroys  garden 
pests  such  as  spiders,  ants,  potato 
bugs,  plant  lice  and  beetles. 

12.  No.  His  only  real  enemies  are  the 
snakes. 

13.  Yes.  In  the  glands  behind  his  head 
is  a secretion  which  comes  out  in 
little  beads  on  his  skin  and  has  a 
very  unpleasant  taste.  Snakes  are 
the  only  enemies  who  do  not  seem 
to  mind  this.  Also,  Mr.  Toad  is  pro- 
tected by  his  color,  which  is  almost 
like  that  of  the  ground,  making  it 
difficult  for  him  to  be  seen. 

14.  Yes.  Some  toads  who  are  lucky 
enough  to  avoid  their  enemies  have 
been  known  to  live  thirty-five  years. 

15.  No.  Mr.  Toad’s  legs  are  shorter  than 
Mr.  Frog’s  and  are  better  suited  for 
walking  than  for  jumping. 

16.  No.  He  swallows  it. 

17.  Yes.  He  likes  to  live  in  damp,  cool 
places  where  there  are  stones  to 
hide  under. 

18.  No.  He  likes  to  sleep  during  the  day 
and  go  out  food-hunting  after  the 
sun  has  gone  down. 

19.  Yes.  He  kicks  himself  into  bed.  He 
pushes  himself  backward  into  loose 
sand  or  dirt  and  twists  himself 
about  until  he  is  completely  covered 
up. 

20.  No.  He  buries  himself  in  the  ground 
and  sleeps  there  all  winter  long. 


23 


SPRING'S  AWAKENING 

A STUDY  OF  SPRING  INTERESTS  WITH 
RELATED  ACTIVITIES 

HELEN  A.  SMITH 

FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


^^UR  study  of  spring’s  awakening 
was  initiated  through  the  children’s 
interest  in  bringing  to  school 
branches  of  pussy  willows  to  show  to 
the  rest  of  the  children.  This  led  them 
to  discuss  the  coming  of  spring.  One 
child  offered  to  bring  to  school  a pic- 
ture which  he  had  seen  in  the  Sunday 
paper  of  two  baby  cubs  and  their 
mother  just  coming  out  of  their  win- 
ter home.  The  class  became  very  en- 
thusiastic and  we  decided  to  record 
the  signs  of  spring. 

SIGHS  OF  SPRING 

Children’s  Suggestions 
Pussy  willow  trees — where  they  grow 
frogs  and  toads  turtles 
snakes  bears 

rabbits  butterflies 

LANGUAGE 

The  children  composed  the  follow- 
ing stories  about  spring  interests 
which  were  used  for  silent  reading 
and  as  illustrations  to  stimulate  indi- 
vidual pupils  to  write  stories  of  their 
own  of  similar  character. 

Our  Pussy  Willows 

Donald  brought  us  some  pussy  wil- 
lows. 

Pussy  willows  grow  in  wet,  swampy 


places.  Donald  found  his  on  the  side 
of  a hill  near  a pond. 

Pussy  willows  have  little  gray  buds 
that  are  soft  and  furry.  That  is  why 
they  are  called  pussies. 

Pussy  willows  are  among  the  first 
signs  of  spring. 

We  have  some  pussy  willows  in  a 
vase  in  our  room. 

Frogs 

The  frogs  have  been  asleep  under 
the  ground  all  winter.  Their  homes 
have  not  been  warm. 

Sometimes  the  frogs  freeze  solid 
but  that  does  not  kill  them. 

They  come  out  of  their  winter 
homes  when  the  sun  becomes  warm 
in  the  spring. 

They  are  just  beginning  to  leave 
their  homes  now.  They  hurry  down 
to  the  pond  to  lay  their  eggs.  Their 
eggs  look  like  white  jelly  with  black 
spots  in  it.  These  black  spots  hatch 
into  baby  tadpoles. 

Baby  tadpoles  do  not  look  like 
frogs.  They  have  only  a little  round 
head  and  a long  tail.  Soon  little  stubs 
grow  on  the  tail.  Then  these  grow 
into  legs. 

When  tadpoles  get  legs  and  can 
hop,  they  leave  their  home  in  the 
water  and  live  on  the  ground.  They 


€*  LYN  WOOD  M . CHASE 


WOODLAND  NEIGHBORS 

are  not  tadpoles  then.  They  are  frogs. 

Another  name  for  a tadpole  is 
polliwog. 

Toads 

Toads  are  useful  animals  because 
they  eat  insects  in  the  gardens. 

They  eat  flies,  worms,  bugs,  and 
other  insects.  Toads  keep  insects  from 
eating  garden  vegetables. 

They  catch  insects  with  their  sticky 
tongues. 

Toads  drink  with  their  bodies.  They 
lie  in  the  water  and  let  it  soak  into 
their  skins. 

The  enemies  of  toads  are  snakes, 
hens,  ducks,  hawks,  and  owls.  Many 
animals  like  to  eat  toads. 

The  Rabbit 

There  are  two  kinds  of  rabbits,  pet 
rabbits  and  wild  rabbits. 

I.  Pet  Rabbits 

A pet  rabbit  needs  much  care.  He 
needs  a good  clean  place  to  live.  A 
clean  box  makes  a good  home  for  him. 

A pet  rabbit  needs  two  meals  a 
day.  He  likes  to  eat  carrots,  lettuce, 
cabbage,  clover,  and  green  grass.  He 
likes  to  eat  his  vegetables  raw. 
Cooked  food  does  not  agree  with  him. 

A pet  rabbit  needs  fresh  water  two 
or  three  times  a day. 

A’  rabbit  makes  a good  pet  for  lit- 
tle children.  Children  who  have  pet 
rabbits  should  not  let  them  run  out 
of  the  yard. 

II.  Wild  Rabbits 

A wild  rabbit  has  to  take  care  of 
himself.  He  must  watch  for  danger 
all  of  the  time. 

He  uses  his  ears,  eyes,  nose,  legs, 
and  wits  to  protect  himself. 

When  danger  is  near,  he  runs  to  a 
briar  patch. 

Mother  rabbit  thumps  on  the 


24 


©LYNWOOD  M.  CHASE 


MR.  TREE  FROG 

ground  to  tell  her  babies  that  danger 
is  near. 

Baby  rabbits  watch  the  cotton  un- 
der mother’s  tail.  It  is  like  a light. 
When  mother  sits  down,  the  light 
goes  out.  Then  the  baby  knows  he 
must  sit  still,  too. 

A wild  rabbit  eats  what  he  can  find 
in  the  woods.  He  lives  in  a hollow 
stump  or  tree. 

Many  large  animals  hunt  wild  rab- 
bits for  food. 

Men  hunt  them,  too. 

The  rabbit’s  fur  changes  color  in 
the  spring. 

Some  fur  coats  are  made  of  rabbit’s 
fur. 

The  Bears 

Katharine  found  a picture  of  two 
little  bear  cubs  and  brought  them  to 
school. 

They  were  born  in  February,  but 
Mother  Bear  would  not  let  them  come 
out  of  their  home  until  spring  was 
here. 

Baby  bears  are  always  born  in 
pairs. 

When  bears  walk,  their  tracks  look 
like  men’s  tracks. 

They  can  stand  up  on  their  hind 
feet. 

Bears  just  love  honey.  They  will 
tear  down  a bee’s  nest  to  get  the 
honey. 

Caterpillars 

We  have  had  a cocoon  in  our  room 
all  winter. 

In  the  fall,  the  caterpillar  spins  a 
house  for  himself.  He  sleeps  in  this 
house  all  winter. 

This  house  is  called  a cocoon. 

When  the  warm  sun  shines  in  the 
spring,  it  wakes  him  up. 

When  the  caterpillar  comes  out  of 
his  cocoon,  he  is  not  a caterpillar. 


He  is  a beautiful  butterfly. 

The  butterfly  will  fly  in  the  woods 
and  gardens  and  lay  eggs. 

When  the  eggs  hatch,  they  are  not 
butterflies  but  they  are  small  cater- 
pillars. 

Other  Animals 

Many  little  animals  sleep  during 
the  winter. 

Snakes  bury  themselves  deep  down 
in  the  ground.  In  the  spring,  the 
warm  sun  wakes  them.  They  crawl 
out  of  their  holes  and  begin  to  look 
for  food.  Snakes  eat  flies  and  insects. 
Many  people  are  afraid  of  snakes,  but 
most  snakes  around  here  are  not 
poisonous. 

Turtles  sleep  in  the  bottom  of  the 
pond  all  winter.  They  have  nothing 
to  eat  either.  The  sun  wakes  them 
up,  too.  The  turtles  dig  a hole  in  the 
sand,  lay  their  eggs  in  it,  cover  them 
up  and  leave  them  there.  The  sun 
hatches  them. 

Snails  and  crabs  bury  themselves 
deep  in  the  mud  at  the  bottom  of  the 
bay  shore.  The  warm  spring  wakes 
them  up,  too. 

The  Turtle 

We  have  three  turtles  in  our  room. 
One  is  middle-sized,  and  two  are 
small,  baby  turtles. 

They  are  painted  turtles.  Their  un- 
dershell has  many  pretty  colors. 
There  are  yellow,  orange,  red,  green, 
and  black  checks  on  the  undershell. 
The  middle-sized  turtle’s  back  is 
brownish  black.  The  baby  turtles’ 
backs  are  green  with  black  lines. 

Turtles’  feet  are  webbed.  That 
helps  them  to  swim. 

Their  feet  have  claws  on  them. 

Their  heads  look  like  snakes’  heads. 

Turtles  live  in  the  water.  They  like 
to  come  up  on  the  sand  to  sun  them- 
selves. 


Feeding  The  Turtles 
Catherine  and  Lois  brought  meat 
for  the  turtles. 

We  broke  the  meat  up  into  pieces. 
The  big  turtle  ate  as  much  as  he 
wanted  and  left  the  rest  of  it  alone. 

The  little  turtles  seemed  not  to  eat 
much. 

We  watched  the  big  turtle  nibble  on 
some  lettuce  leaves. 

Turtles  should  be  fed  twice  a week. 
Turtles  that  live  in  the  ponds  eat 
snails,  worms,  and  minnows. 

CLASS  ACTIVITIES 

1.  Reading. 

a.  Stories  from  books  on  library 
table. 

b.  Poems. 

2.  Spelling. 

a.  Words  needed  to  write  short 
stories  and  sentences. 

3.  Writing.  Short  stories  about 
spring  activities. 

4.  Music.  Spring  songs. 

5.  Art  work. 

a.  Pictures  of  spring  activities. 

b.  Draw  pictures  illustrating  the 
stories  given  above. 

TESTS 

1.  Multiple  Choice. 

Yes  and  No  Sentences. 

If  the  sentence  is  true,  write  yes. 
If  the  sentence  is  not  true,  write 
no. 

a.  Mother  toad  has  a beautiful 
voice. 

b.  A toad’s  tongue  is  very  sticky. 

c.  A toad  catches  insects  with  his 
tongue. 

d.  Toads  and  frogs  are  the  same 
kind  of  animals. 

e.  A frog’s  eyes  are  on  top  of  his 
head. 

f.  A toad’s  teeth  are  very  sharp. 

g.  A toad  has  ( Turn  to  page  62) 


©LYNWOOD  M.  CHASE 


MRS.  WOODPECKER  AND  HER  CHILDREN  LIVED  IN  A SHOE 


25 


MRS.  FROG'S  FAMILY  STUDIES  TURTLE  EGGS 


Teaching  Geography 

Through  Nature  Study  and  Elementary  Science 

Eunice  Wentworth 


Some  courses. of  study  do  not  list  ge- 
ography as  a required  subject  in  first 
and  second  grades.  They  prefer, 
instead,  the  term  Elementary  Science,  or 
perhaps  simply  Nature  Study.  This  is 
quite  correct,  because  the  elements  of 
both  these  subjects  really  are  the  founda- 
tional preparation  for  studying  the  more 
formal  subject  of  “Geography — As  the  Home  of  Man.” 

The  following  outline  suggests  the  scope  of  content 
usually  expected  to  be  covered  in  these  grades. 


Home  and  habits  of  plants. 
Friends  and  enemies  of  plants. 
Victory  garden  work. 


Connect  this  work  with  other 
subjects  such  as  physical  edu- 
cation. 

2.  Landscape — L e a d chil- 
dren to  see  and  appreciate  the 
outdoor  pictures  by  which  they 
are  surrounded  in  their  own 
home  environment.  Lead  them 
to  observe  and  to  talk  about 
slopes,  hills,  valleys,  brooks, 
lakes,  ponds,  mountains 
near  their  homes. 

3.  Interesting  Life  Sub- 
jects. 

Plants 

Recognition  of  a few 
wild  and  cultivated 
plants. 

Needs,  or  conditions, 
for  growth  of  plants. 


(Important  in  our 


SUGGESTED  OUTLINE  FOR  WORK 

There  should  be  much  field  work,  through  excursions 
and  field  trips.  Observations  should  be  of  simple  char- 
acter. The  object  of  the  study  of  plants  is  to  arouse  inter- 
est in  the  homes  of  plants  and  animals.  Let  LIFE  be  the 
thought  emphasized  throughout.  In  studying  plant  and 
animal  life,  uses  and  relationships  are  the  greatest  interest 
to  small  children.  Use  many  nature  myths  and  other 
stories.  Let  the  children  think  of  geography  as  an  inter- 
esting way  of  finding  out  all  about  the  earth  on  which 
they  live. 

Select  from  the  following  topics  subjects  suitable  for 
observation  and  conversation  in  the  first  and  second 
grades. 

Landscape  in  our  town  at  different  times  of  day  and 
night. 

Life — plant,  animal,  man — as  related  to  soil,  water,  etc. 

Forms  of  water  as  they  affect  our  lives. 

Winds  as  they  affect  our  lives. 

Weather  observations. 

Observations  of  heavens.  (Simple  astronomy) 

Direction — in  terms  of  home  geography. 

Distance — (From  local  distances  get  idea  of  longer 
distances.) 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  THESE  TOPICS 

1.  Terms — Teach  children  to  use  correctly  terms — up. 
down,  upper,  lower,  over,  under,  above,  below,  right,  left. 


Change  of  season,  effects  of  weather  on  life  of  plants. 

Use  to  man — to  other  living  things. 

Animals 

Observation  of  some  common  animals,  domestic  and 
wild.  Study  especially  the  birds. 

Needs  of  birds.  How  supplied?  What  can  children  do 
to  help? 

Homes  and  habits.  Compare  children’s  love  of  their 
own  homes  with  the  needs  and  love  of  birds  for  their  nests. 
Why  should  we  never  destroy  a bird’s  nest? 

Weather 

In  their  season,  observe  clouds,  fogs,  mists,  rain,  snow, 
hail.  ice.  frost.  Notice  appearance,  formation,  effects 
Notice  changes  in  seasons  and  effects  on  man.  plants,  and 
animals. 

Heavenly  Bodies 

Sun.  moon,  pole-star,  great-dipper,  morning  star,  eve- 
ning star. 

People 

Our  own  social  life. 

Stories  and  pictures  of  children  of  Hot  Lands. 

Stories  and  pictures  of  children  of  Cold  Lands. 

Stories  of  Our  Good  Neighbors — Canada.  Mexico.  South 
America,  etc. 

Stories  of  our  friendly  allies — the  Chinese,  their  home 
life,  customs,  etc.  ( Turn  to  page  62) 


26 


THE  SLIDER  TURTLE 
Common  throughout  Central  and 
Southern  States  this  turtle  is  a 
valuable  source  of  food. 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  UNIT 

Turtles  should  be  placed  in  the 
school  aquarium  a few  days  previous 
to  the  beginning  of  the  unit.  They  will 
stimulate  the  pupils’  interest  and  will 
prepare  the  class  for  the  unit. 

Small  turtles  may  be  purchased  at 
pet  shops  or  they  may  be  collected 
around  streams  and  ponds  during 
spring  and  summer.  They  are  easily 
kept  in  the  school  room.  An  aquarium 
or  large  glass  bowl  should  be  partial- 
ly filled  with  water,  and  a large  rock 
should  be  placed  in  it.  The  upper  sur- 
face of  the  rock  should  protrude  from 


SUNNING 

This  turtle  crawled  onto  the  log  in  the 
full  rays  of  the  summer  sun. 


the  water  and  provide  a dry  area  upon 
which  the  turtle  can  crawl.  Turtles 
should  not  be  forced  to  remain  con- 
tinually in  the  water.  Small  pieces  of 
liver,  insects,  or  prepared  turtle  food 
purchased  at  the  pet  shop  will  provide 
sufficient  food. 

OUTLINE  OF  STUDY 

A.  Objective. 

To  teach  interesting  facts  about  the 
life  history  of  turtles  and  to  learn 
how  they  are  of  importance  to  man. 

B.  Procedure. 

1.  Motivation. 

Arouse  interest  by  showing 
turtles  to  the  class  and  telling  a 
few  interesting  facts  about  them. 
Allow  the  children  to  tell  about 
their  experiences  with  turtles. 

2.  Teaching. 

Have  the  class  work  out  and  il- 
lustrate life  facts  about  the  tur- 
tle, on  the  basis  of  their  own 
observation.  The  teacher  places 
the  turtle  where  the  entire  class 


can  see.  She  may  proceed  after 
this  fashion : “In  our  science 
classes,  we  have  discussed  how 
we  learn  by  observation.  Let  us 
see  what  we  can  learn  about  this 
interesting  creature  by  observa- 
tion. Do  you  see  anything  un- 
usual about  him?” 

The  pupils  will  volunteer  sug- 
gestions. Some  pupil  will  observe 


A TURTLE  NEST 

This  is  a cross  section  with  the  mud  plug 
sealing  the  nest  loosened.  Weeds  and 
debris  are  mixed  with  the  mud  seal  and 
aid  in  effectively  concealing  the  nest. 

that  the  turtle  has  a hard,  bony 
shell  and  the  class  may  conclude 
that  the  turtle  is  a clumsy  ani- 
mal. Other  observations  might 
be:  Webbed  feet  indicating  life 
in  the  water;  sharp,  powerful 
jaws  indicating  that  it  eats  heavy 
food,  etc. 

The  teacher  should  emphasize 
the  importance  of  turtles  to  man 
—their  value  as  food  and  scav- 
engers, and  the  harm  they  do  as 
predators  and  pests  to  fishermen. 

3.  Read  stories  about  turtles. 

C.  Class  Activities. 

1.  Let  the  class  appoint  committees 
for  the  care  of  the  turtle. 

2.  Make  a turtle  design  for  the 
blackboard  or  a bulletin  border, 
to  be  used  during  the  time  of  the 


ELEMENTARY  SCIENCE 

FRED  R.  CAGLE 

FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 

study.  Make  a turtle  booklet. 

3.  Design  a poster  showing  interest- 
ing events  in  the  life  of  a turtle 
— such  as  stealing  fish  for  food 
from  the  fisherman’s  hook.  (“Mr. 
Turtle  Becomes  a Thief.” ) Show 
him  as  a scavenger  and,  finally, 
asleep  on  a log  in  the  sun.  One 
poster  may  be  made  featuring 
all  three  events  and  may  be  en- 
titled, “Mr.  Turtle  has  a Busy 
Day”  or,  “A  Day  in  the  Life  of  a 
Turtle”. 

FACTS  FOR  THE  TEACHER 

There  are  at  least  sixty-four  differ- 
ent kinds  of  turtles  in  the  United 


FROM  BELOW 

The  undersurface  of  a Slider  Turtle  is 
well-protected  by  a bony  plate. 

States.  These  may  be  separated  into 
three  major  groups : those  that  live 
almost  entirely  in  the  water,  the  soft- 
shelled  turtles;  those  that  spend  most 
of  their  lives  in  the  water  but  often 
travel  about  on  the  land,  the  Painted 
Turtles,  the  Slider  Turtles;  and  those 
that  spend  their  entire  lives  on  the 
land,  the  Box  Turtles,  the  Gopher 
Turtles. 

All  turtles  are  alike  in  that  they 
have  a bony  shell  formed  from  the 
union  of  the  much  flattened  ribs  cov- 
ered by  a layer  of  horn.  When  the 
turtle  withdraws  its  ( Turn  to  page  54) 


EGGS  OF  THE  MUSK  TURTLE 

These  were  taken  from  several  nests  and  vary  consider- 
ably in  size.  The  Musk  Turtle  usually  lays  four  eggs. 


27 


WHERE  WE  GOT  OUR  TURTLE  OUR  SQUIRREL 


RABBITS  • SQUIRRELS  • TURTLES 

A Unit  on  Our  Schoolroom  Pets  • For  Primary  tirades 

L.  G.  WHITEMAN 


The  study  of  pets  affords  excellent 
material  for  your  reading  readi- 
ness program,  for  children  natu- 
rally have  a keen  interest  in  them. 

The  possibilities  for  building  lan- 
guage experiences,  teaching  factual 
material,  encouraging  creative  abil- 
ities, and  formulating  desirable  habits 
are  far  reaching. 

In  addition,  it  enriches  the  child’s 
background  and  lays  a foundation  for 
the  reading  of  books  which 
abound  in  stories  about  pets. 

In  this  way  reading  becomes 
an  alive  and  meaningful  sub- 
ject. 

OUR  OBJECTIVES 
To  provide  a center  of  in- 
terest out  of  which  will  evolve 
such  habits  as  courtesy,  re- 
sponsibility, initiative,  co- 
operation, talking  before  the 
group,  experience  in  talking 
in  turn. 

To  make  the  getting  ac- 
quainted days  happy  and  in- 
teresting. 

To  make  a richer  reading 
and  speaking  vocabulary. 

To  create  a happy,  inquisi- 
tive attitude  towards  reading. 

To  increase  children’s  in- 
formation about  pets. 

OUR  APPROACH 

Interest  in  the  unit  in  our 
room  was  aroused  by  having 
a squirrel  and  a couple  of 
turtles  brought  in.  Then  it 
was  suggested  that  we  get  a 
rabbit.  The  next  question 


was  how  to  make  a home  for  one  and 
the  kind  we  would  need. 

The  class  searched  through  pictures 
and  books  until  they  found  a rabbit 
hutch.  Our  janitor  was  asked  to  make 
it  and  in  a short  time  we  had  our 
rabbit  properly  housed.  The  next  step 
was  the  naming  of  the  pets.  The  fol- 
lowing names  were  chosen:  Joe, 
Bobbie,  Tim,  and  Peanut.  Name  labels 
were  then  placed  over  each  home. 


The  children  decided  what  they 
wanted  to  know  about  each  pet  and 
charts  were  printed  separately. 

The  rabbit  chart  was  as  follows: 
What  will  Joe,  our  rabbit,  eat? 
What  do  we  need  for  his  hutch? 
Why  does  he  have  long  ears? 

How  does  Mother  Rabbit  care  for 
her  babies? 

How  does  she  make  her  nest? 

What  will  our  rabbit  need  for  food? 

How  can  we  make  him  feel 
at  home? 

TEACHING 

Each  pet  was  examined 
carefully,  calling  attention  to 
its  physical  characteristics — 
eyes,  feet,  tail,  paws,  body 
covering,  ears,  etc.,  its  move- 
ments; climbing,  jumping, 
crawling,  and  hopping.  Then 
housing  and  food  for  each 
kind  of  pet  were  considered. 

The  children  cared  for  our 
pets  by  bringing  their  food, 
feeding  them  and  cleaning 
their  homes,  thereby  giving  a 
sense  of  responsibility. 

After  this,  we  made  stories 
and  recorded  them  on  charts. 
Each  chart  was  placed  near 
the  home  of  the  pet,  thus 
serving  as  a reading  cue.  The 
following  stories  were  de- 
veloped. 

Our  Squirrel 
Our  squirrel  is  pretty. 

He  has  a long  bushy  tail. 
He  has  sharp  teeth. 

( Turn  to  page  59) 


OUR  RABBITS  FIND  A NEW  HOME 


28 


WILD  MIMALS 


PREPARING  FOR  WINTER 

ANNA  F.  DEANE 

State  Teachers  College , Westfield , Mass. 


In  teaching  this  unit  of  preparation  for  winter,  the  ob- 
jective was  to  help  children  to  see  that  man  is  not 
alone  in  making  such  preparations,  that  all  living 
things  have  certain  winter  habits.  To  make  this  concrete 
to  pupils  of  primary  grade  level,  the  unit  was  divided  into 
four  parts. 

PART  I 

How  Animals  Get  Ready  for  Winter 
Specific  objectives  for  this  part  of  the  unit  were: 

To  show  children  what  happens  to — 

1.  animals  they  have  been  seeing  all  summer 

(squirrels,  chipmunks,  woodchucks,  dogs  and  kittens) 
2.  animals  they  have  been  reading  about 
(bears,  rabbits,  raccoons,  etc.) 

Charts  were  prepared  by  cutting  and  mounting  pictures 
taken  from  the  book  “Forest  Friends,”  a picture  book  by 
Fern  Peat  bought  in  the  ten-cent  store.  Under  each  pic- 
ture, the  teacher  printed  a short  story  which  the  children 
could  read,  as  follows: 

Picture  of  a rabbit — “Some  rabbits  become  white.” 

Picture  of  a raccoon — “Mr.  Raccoon  grows  very  fat.” 
Picture  of  a chipmunk — “Chippy  saves  his  food.  He  also 
takes  naps.” 

Picture  of  a squirrel — “Mr.  Squirrel  stores  food  for  winter.” 
Picture  of  kittens — “Our  pet  kittens  get  warmer  coats.” 
Picture  of  a bear — “Bears  grow  very  fat.  They  have  long 
naps.” 

Picture  of  a skunk — “Skunks  take 
naps  too.  Their  naps  are  not  very 
long.” 

Picture  of  a woodchuck  — “Mr. 

Woodchuck  has  g lqng  nap.” 

Picture  of  a muskrat — “Jerry  Musk- 
rat stays  in  his  home  all  winter.” 

A large  printed  chart  was  made 
and  placed  in  the  middle  of  the 
bulletin  board.  This  was  a concise 
wording  of  the  subject: 

Getting  Ready  for  Winter 

Some  animals  go  to  sleep. 

Some  animals  store  food  for  the 
winter. 

Some  animals  become  very  fat. 

Some  animals  build  winter  homes. 

Some  animals  become  white  like 
the  snow. 


The  lesson  was  introduced  by  a discussion  of  how  people 
get  ready  for  winter.  The  children  were  then  asked  if 
they  knew  of  anything  else  that  gets  ready.  Several 
answers  were  given,  among  them  “squirrels.”  The  class 
talked  about  squirrels,  and  the  teacher  showed  the 
squirrel  picture  and  explained  what  the  story  meant.  In 
this  way  each  animal  was  discussed.  The  large  chart 
came  last  as  a review  and  summary.  This  chan,  was  read 
by  one  child.  Then  the  whole  display  was  mounted  in  the 
“Nature  Corner.” 

During  the  discussion,  one  boy  suggested  grasshoppers 
and  crickets  are  getting  ready  for  winter.  We  saved  dis- 
cussion of  these  little  animals  for  the  next  lesson.  So  the 
way  was  paved  for  part  2 of  the  unit. 

The  following  references  are  helpful  in  planning  what 
information  to  give  about  the  pictures: 

“Out  of  Doors”— Craig  and  Baldwin,  pages  53-69 
“Science  Stories  Book  II” — Scott  Foresman,  pages  62-64 
“My  Nature  Book” — May  T.  Watts 
‘The  Wonderworld  of  Science” — Knox,  pages  47-55 
“Bear  Cubs  and  Their  Mother” — Charlotte  Barske-Artists 
and  Writers  Guild.  (A  ten-cent  store  book.  Excellent.) 
“Wild  Animals  of  North  America” — John  Holgworth.  (Ten 
cents.) 

“Furry  Ones” — Robin  Palmer.  (Ten  cents.  Excellent.  Large 
photographs.) 

PART  II 

How  Insects  (or  Little  Animals) 
Get  Ready  for  Winter 
Here  the  objective  was  similar 
to  the  previous  one — to  find  out 
what  had  become  of  the  grasshop- 
pers and  crickets  we  had  been  see- 
ing. Additional  charts  were  made 
using  the  colored  pictures  from  the 
ten  cent  store  book  “Bugs.”  These 
were  mounted  with  stories  under 
them  as  follows: 

Caterpillar  picture — “The  caterpillar 
makes  a cocoon  and  sleeps.” 
Cricket  picture — "Crickets  lay  eggs 
and  die.” 

Grasshopper  picture — “Grasshoppers 
lay  eggs  then  die.” 

Beetle  picture — "The  beetle  sleeps 
in  the  ground.” 

The  class  re-  (Turn  to  page  59) 


30 


BY  FRANCES  CRAHAN 


ArUmal  Jlile 


WORK  SHEETS 


FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


Display  pictures  or  give  the  class  a page  of  hecto- 
graphed  drawings  of  sheep,  cow,  calf,  pig,  raccoon, 
wolf,  rabbit,  deer,  bison,  skunk,  muskrat,  horse  and  bear. 
Number  each  picture  or  drawing.  Write  the  numbers  of 
the  pictures  that  answer  the  following  questions.  You 
may  have  to  use  some  numbers  more  than  once.  ( The 
sentences  may  be  hectographed  for  each  child.) 

1.  From  which  animal  do  we  get  material  for  our  snow 
suits? 

2.  From  which  animal  do  we  get  veal? 

3.  Which  animal  hibernates  in  winter? 

4.  From  which  animal  do  we  get  pork? 

5.  From  which  animals  do  we  get  the  fur  for  our  fur 
coats? 

6.  From  which  animal  would  you  get  the  material  for 
your  woolen  sweater? 

7.  The  fur  of  which  animals  are  used  to  trim  our  coats? 
8.  Which  animals  are  protected  by  law? 

9.  Which  animals  live  in  holes? 

10.  Which  animals  did  the  Indians  use  for  food  and  for 
their  clothing? 

11.  Which  animals  eat  other  animals? 

12.  From  which  animals  do  we  get  butter? 

13.  From  which  animal  do  we  get  leather  for  shoes? 

14.  Which  animal  washes  his  food  before  eating  it? 

15.  From  which  animal  do  we  get  lard? 

16.  Which  animals  are  not  used  for  food? 

17.  From  which  animals  do  we  get  glue? 

18.  From  which  animal  do  we  get  bristles  for  our 
brushes? 

19.  From  which  animal  do  we  get  T-bone  steak? 

20.  From  which  animal  do  we  get  bacon? 

21.  From  which  animal  do  we  get  material  for  our  foot- 
balls? 

22.  The  baby  of  which  animal  is  called  a fawn? 

23.  Cheese  is  made  from  the  milk  of  which  animal? 

24.  The  meat  for  your  hamburgers  come  from  which 
animal? 

KEY 


1.  sheep 

11. 

wolf,  bear 

2.  calf 

12. 

cow 

3.  bear,  skunk 

13. 

cow,  horse,  deer 

4.  pig 

14. 

raccoon 

5.  muskrat,  raccoon,  bear, 

15. 

Pig 

deer,  sheep 

16. 

wolf,  muskrat,  bear 

6.  sheep 

17. 

cow,  horse 

7.  muskrat,  raccoon,  bear, 

18. 

Pig 

wolf 

19. 

cow 

8.  raccoon,  bear,  deer, 

20. 

Pig 

bison,  muskrat 

21. 

Pig 

9.  skunk,  muskrat,  bear, 

22. 

deer 

wolf 

23. 

cow 

10.  deer,  bison 

24. 

cow,  pig 

Pictures  or  drawings  of  pig,  cow,  calf,  sheep,  lamb, 
and  deer  numbered  and  displayed  as  in  the  first  work 
sheet.  Ask  children  to  write  the  numbers  of  the  picture 


that  answer  question,  as  before.  If  you  had  one  of  these 
meats  for  dinner  from  which  animal  would  you  get  each 
meat? 


1.  T-bone  steak 

2.  spareribs 

3.  hamburger 

4.  bacon 

5.  beef  roast 

6.  ham 

7.  liver 

8.  pork  roast 

9.  round  steak 


1.  cow 
2-  pig 

3.  cow,  pig 

4.  pig 

5.  cow 

6.  pig 


10.  veal  chops 
11  leg  of  lamb 

12.  mutton 

13.  pork  chops 

14.  pork  steak 

15.  venison  steak 

16.  short  ribs  of  beef 

17.  pork  tenderloin 

18.  wieners  (frankfurters 
or  “hot  dogs”) 


KEY 

7.  cow,  pig,  calf 

8.  pig 

9.  cow 

10.  calf 

11.  lamb 

12.  sheep 


13.  pig 

14.  pig 

15.  deer 

16.  cow 

17.  pig 

18.  pig,  cow 


Display  or  distribute  pictures  or  drawings  of  cultivator, 
tractor,  harrow,  manure  spreader,  combine,  potato 
digger,  reaper,  drill,  hay  loader,  hay  rake,  mowing  ma- 
chine, corn  binder,  and  potato  digger.  Number  each  one. 
Ask  the  children  to  write  the  number  of  the  picture  that 
matches  the  description  in  the  following  sentences. 

1.  I uproot  weeds  and  loosen  the  earth. 

2.  I break  up  lumps  and  covers  seeds. 

3.  I put  fertilizer  on  the  soil  to  enrich  it. 

4.  I cut  wheat,  oats,  rye,  and  barley. 

5.  I cut  and  thresh  grain  at  the  same  time. 

6.  I take  potatoes  from  the  ground. 

7.  I sow  seeds  in  rows. 

8.  I cut  hay. 

9.  I help  to  load  hay. 

10.  I gather  the  hay  into  long  rows. 

11.  I am  the  machine  that  is  most  often  used. 

12.  I am  not  used  in  spring. 

13.  I am  used  in  spring. 

14.  I am  used  to  pull  heavy  loads. 

15.  I tie  com  stalks  into  bundles 


1.  cultivator 

2.  harrow 

3.  manure  spreader 

4.  reaper-combine 

5.  combine 

6.  potato  digger 
/.  drill 

8.  mowing  machine 

9.  hay  loader 


KEY 

10.  hay  rake 

11.  tractor 

12.  combine,  reaper,  potato 
digger,  com  binder 

13.  tractor,  harrow,  drill, 
mowing  machine,  ma- 
nure spreader,  cultivator 

14.  tractor 

15.  com  binder 


Give  hectographed  copies  of  these  questions  to  the  chil- 
dren to  write  the  answer.  It  is  presumed  by  this  time 
in  the  year  that  the  class  will  have  taken  up  these  facts  in 
connection  with  the  farm  unit.  You  may  have  to  help  them 
with  the  first  answer.  If  preferred,  you  may  take  the 
questions  up  orally,  writing  the  names  of  the  different 
babies  on  the  board.  In  that  case,  ask  the  children  then 
to  write  the  name  of  the  baby  opposite  the  question  on 
his  paper  and  draw  its  picture. 

1.  What  is  a turkey’s  baby  called? 

2.  A calf  is  the  baby  of  what  animal? 

3.  What  is  a cat’s  baby  called?  (Turn  to  page  55) 


31 


The  Cat  and  the  Dog 

A Unit  on  Two  Common  Pets 

BY  MILDRED  SOURWINE 
For  Primary  Grades 

The  dog  is  the  child’s  favorite  pet.  There  is  no  other  animal  with  which  he 
is  so  familiar.  In  many  homes  he  is  much  loved,  having  the  same  privileges 
as  the  children.  The  dog  is  loved  not  only  by  children  but  by  the  grown- 
ups as  well.  He  is  known  as  man’s  best  friend. 

The  cat  has  been  a household  pet  as  far  back  as  we  have  any  records  of 
civilization.  She  is  not  only  a beloved  playmate  but  is  of  great  value  in  check- 
ing the  ravages  of  rats  and  mice.  We  owe  much  to  the  cat  for  her  help. 

AIMS 

A.  To  teach  a few  facts  about  some  com- 
mon household  pets. 

B.  To  stress  kindness  to  animals. 

C.  To  increase  child’s  speaking  and  read- 
ing vocabulary. 

D.  To  give  opportunity  for  self-expres- 
sion through  the  spoken  word  and 
through  handwork. 

MEANS  OF  APPROACH 

A.  Conversation 

B.  Observation 

C.  Pictures 

D.  Stories 

E.  Poems 

POINTS  EMPHASIZED 
The  Dog 

A.  Obvious  parts  and  their  uses. 

B.  Breeds 

1.  Shepherd 

2.  Collie 

3.  Terrier 

4.  Hound 

5.  Police,  etc. 

C.  Uses 

1.  For  protection. 

2.  For  hunting  purposes. 

3.  Substitute  for  horse. 

4.  A household  pet. 


D.  Characteristics 

1.  Courage 

2.  Strength 

3.  Faithfulness 

4.  Love 

5.  Endurance 

6.  Beauty 

7.  Swiftness 

8.  Intelligence 

9.  Memory 
10.  Docility 

E.  Care 

1.  Food 

(a)  Kind 

(b)  Amount 

(c)  Regular  Feeding 

2.  Cleanliness 

3.  Housing 

4.  Training 

F.  Emotional  Expression 

1.  Delight 

2.  Friendliness 

3.  Affection 

4.  Anger 

5.  Fear 

6.  Shame 

7.  Attention 

8.  Excitement 

The  Cat 

A.  Obvious  parts  and  their  uses. 


A good  project  for  “Be  Kind 


B.  Kinds 

1.  Persian — the  long  haired. 

2.  Common — the  short  haired. 

C.  Colors 

D.  Uses 

1.  As  a pet. 

2.  As  a hunter  of  mice  and  rats. 

E.  Characteristics 

1.  Intelligent 

2.  Teachable 

3.  Sensitive 

4.  Nervous 

5.  Timid 

6.  Graceful 

7.  Loves  attention 

8.  Good  memory 

9.  Cleanly 

10.  Has  a love  for  places 

F.  How  does  a cat  express  its  emotions? 

1.  When  hungry 

2.  When  happy 

3.  When  friendly 

4.  When  frightened 

5.  When  hurt 

6.  When  defiant 

7.  When  disobedient 

8.  When  fighting 

G.  Care 

1.  Food 

(a)  Kind 

(b)  Amount 

(c)  Regular  Feeding 

2.  Housing 

3.  Training 

H.  Points  of  Special  Interest 

1.  Emotional  expression  of  animals. 

2.  Comparison  of  tracks. 

3.  Comparison  of  eyes. 

4.  Noting  position  of  nostrils. 

5.  Noting  differences  in  ears. 

ACTIVITIES 

A.  Cooperative  Stories 

B.  Storytelling 

C.  Collecting  Pictures 

D.  Making  Booklets 

E.  Illustrating  with  Crayons 

F.  Illustrating  with  Paper  Cutting 

G.  Making  Animals  with  Cardboard  and 
Oilcloth 

H.  Modeling  with  Clay  and  Plasticine 

I.  Making  Riddles 


LAMBERT 


32 


to  Animals”  week.  — Editor 


VOCABULARY 

A.  Names  of  Dogs 

Collie,  Terrier,  Shepherd,  St.  Bernard, 
Police 

B.  Parts  of  the  Body 


head 

legs 

claws 

eyes 

feet 

hair 

nose 

toes 

fur 

mouth 

tail 

whiskers 

ears 

C.  Action 

pads 

tongue 

run 

climb 

pull 

walk 

lead 

hunt 

trot 

bark 

smell 

crawl 

whine 

growl 

jump 

watch 

mew 

lap 

purr 

TYPES  OF  SEATWORK 

A.  Which  Are  Right? 

1.  A cat  keeps  her  kittens  clean. 

2.  Cats  wash  after  they  eat. 

3.  Cats  like  hot  milk. 

4.  Cats  catch  rabbits. 

5.  All  cats  are  white. 

6.  Some  cats  have  long  tails. 

7.  Some  cats  have  no  tails. 

8.  Cats  are  good  jumpers. 

Key 

1.  yes  3.  no  5.  no  7.  yes 

2.  yes  4.  yes  6.  yes  8.  yes 

B.  Completion 

1.  A cat  has  sharp  . 

2.  A cat  has  long . 

3.  A cat  has  soft . 

4.  A cat  has  a rough . 

(a)  tongue  (c)  feet 

(b)  whiskers  (d)  claws 

Key 


D.  Descriptive  and 

for  Comparison 

1. 

soft 

keen 

tall 

stout 

1. 

rough 

good 

warm 

hot 

2. 

sharp 

thick 

short 

cold 

3. 

clean 

fresh 

long 

dull 

dry 

wet 

slender 

4. 

light 

heavy 

bright 

5. 

OUTCOMES 

A.  Enlargement  of  child’s  interest  and 
experience. 

B.  Skills 

1.  Reading 

(a)  Increased  reading  vocabulary. 

(b)  Furnished  motive  for  reading. 
Children  found  and  read  stories 
to  group. 

2.  Oral  English 

(a)  Developed  power  in  self-ex- 
pression. 

(b)  Increased  speaking  vocabulary. 

(c)  Memorized  poems. 

(d)  Appreciation.  Choosing  stories 
and  poems. 

3.  Art 

(a)  Free  illustration  of  parts  of 
stories. 

4.  Writing 

(a)  Improvement.  Each  child  tried 
to  improve  his  handwriting  so 
that  he  might  write  the  sentences 
in  our  cooperative  book. 


2.  b 

1.  A dog  knows  his 
You  can  teach  a < 
You  must  give  a 
every  day. 

You  must  keep  h 
You  must  not  give 
6.  Give  your  dog  a - 


3.  c 


4.  a 


water 


bones. 

once  a week. 


7.  Give  your  dog  meat a day. 

8.  Always  be to  your  pets. 

(a)  kind  (e)  once 

(b)  bath  (f)  chicken 

(c)  clean  (g)  fresh 

(d)  tricks  (h)  master 


1.  h 

2.  d 


3.  g 

4.  c 


Key 

5.  f 

6.  b 


7.  e 

8.  a 


C.  Matching  Questions  and  Answers 

1.  What  does  a cat  say  when  she  wants 
you  to  open  the  door  for  her? 

2.  What  does  she  do  when  she  is  happy? 

3.  What  does  she  do  when  she  is  angry? 

4.  What  does  she  do  when  you  hurt 
her? 

5.  What  does  she  do  when  you  take 
away  her  food? 

(a)  growls  (d)  purrs 

(b)  mew-mew  (e)  spits 

(c)  squalls 

Key 

1.  b 2.  d 3.  e 4.  c 5.  a 


D.  Multiple  Choice 

1.  A cat  has 

(a)  soft  fur 

(b)  rough  fur 

(c)  hard  fur 

2.  A cat  walks 

(a)  on  its  tail 

(b)  on  its  ears 

(c)  on  its  toes 

3.  A cat  hunts 

(a)  at  noon 

(b)  at  night 

(c)  in  the  morning 

4.  A cat  catches 

(a)  bears 

(b)  rats 

(c)  birds 

(d)  foxes 

(e)  rabbits 

5.  When  walking,  a cat  makes 

(a)  four  tracks 

(b)  two  tracks 

6.  A cat  should  have 

(a)  cold  milk 

(b)  hot  milk 

(c)  warm  milk 


7.  A baby  kitten  has 

(a)  blue  eyes 

(b)  yellow  eyes 

(c)  green  eyes 

8.  A cat  has 

(a)  no  whiskers 

(b)  short  whiskers 

(c)  long  whiskers 

Key 

1.  a 3.  b 5.  b 7.  a 

2.  c 4.  b,  c,  e 6.  c 8.  c 

1.  Which  does  a dog  watch? 

(a)  sheep 

(b)  squirrels 

(c)  sleep 

2.  How  many  toes  are  on  a dog’s  front 
foot? 

(a)  four 

(b)  two 

(c)  five 

3.  What  are  baby  dogs  called? 

(a)  ponies 

(b)  puppies 

(c)  supper 

4.  Which  do  dogs  hunt  for? 

(a)  lost  people 

(b)  lost  airplanes 

5.  Where  is  a good  place  for  a dog  to 
sleep  in  summer? 

(a)  in  the  house 

(b)  in  the  yard 

6.  How  does  a dog  keep  his  teeth  clean? 

(a)  with  water 

(b)  with  bones 

(c)  with  bread 

7.  How  does  a dog  help  blind  people? 

(a)  he  leads  them 

(b)  he  feeds  them 

8.  How  do  you  know  when  a dog  is 
well? 

(a)  by  his  bright  eyes 

(b)  by  his  dull  eyes 

(c)  by  his  wet  nose 

(d)  by  his  dry  nose 

(e)  by  his  cold  nose 

(f)  by  his  warm  nose 


Key 

1.  a 

5.  b 

2.  c 

6.  b 

3.  b 

7.  a 

4.  a 

8.  a,  c,  e 

E.  Following  Directions 

1.  Put  a green  X on  my  eye. 

2.  Put  a brown  X on  my  tail. 

3.  Put  a blue  X on  my  paws. 

4.  Put  a purple  X on  my  ears. 

5.  Put  a red  X on  my  whiskers. 

6.  Put  a yellow  X on  my  neck. 

7.  Put  a black  X on  my  tracks. 

(Turn  to  page  57) 


33 


AUTOGRAPHS  OF  MINK  AND  REDPOLL 


THE  RED  FOX’S  TRAIL 


SIGNS  OF  WILD  LIFE  IN  WINTER 

MATERIAL  FOR  LESSONS  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCIENCE 

EDMUND  J.  SAWYER 


B.kds  and  four-footed  anima,S  are 
few  in  winter  and  rather  seldom  seen, 
for  it  is  not  easy  to  wade  through  the 
deep  snow  in  the  woods  and  fields  for 
chance  glimpses  of  crossbills,  owls, 
redpolls,  and  snow-buntings.  The  fur 
bearers  make  quick  forays  after  food 
and  water  and  soon  return  to  their 
snug  burrows  or  hollow  trees.  We  are 
lucky  if  we  see  on  our  winter  walk 
anything  but  a few  squirrels  and  rab- 
bits. However,  there  are  many  stories 
written  on  the  snow  in  varied  and  in- 
teresting characters.  Not  even  a tiny 
field  mouse  can  take  one  timid  step 


from  his  hole  without  leaving  a rec- 
ord for  sharp  eyes  to  read.  The  snow, 
which  shuts  the  animals  themselves 
away  from  us,  is  after  all  an  advan- 
tage. Animals  of  which  we  learn  little 
in  summer,  because  they  are  scarce 
or  roam  abroad  chiefly  at  night  now, 
by  their  trails  in  the  snow,  tell  us 
about  their  wanderings;  how  and 
where  they  got  food ; where  they  went 
for  water;  and  whether  they  ran, 
trotted,  walked,  or  ambled,  is  there 
written  down.  The  squirrel,  raccoon, 
fox,  mink,  muskrat,  skunk,  rabbit, 
and  many  birds  will  have  been  abroad. 


STREAMS  AND  PONDS 

Certain  kinds  of  places  are  partic- 
ularly favored  by  wild  creatures  in 
winter.  A swift  stream,  or  any  piece 
of  open  water,  is  always  sure  to  at- 
tract many  of  the  winter  wide-awakes 
and  these  are  the  best  places  in  which 
to  look  for  various  snow  trails,  espe- 
cially those  of  mink  and  muskrat. 
Near  bushy  or  weedy  growths  along 
old  fences,  beside  low  thickets,  or  in 
dry,  sedgy  marshes,  you  will  find  that 
mice  have  been  most  numerous  and 
active,  their  trails  crossing  and  re- 
crossing in  some  places  quite  like  the 


PEARL  ASTRID  NELSON 


A LONG  NAP 


RUTH  WE9TMAN 


r ft 

f-r—^  j >=■ 

. m m 

■ 8 r f ^ 

Bears  don’t  mind  the 

cold  and  fog,  They 

P P (J  P 

sleep  in  a hoi  - low 

log 

When  the  spring  comes 

w-B  tiV 

H 

-i f: 

—jp 

- 1 -L  . ■ — 

.a j — — — 

r v *.„t  l 

t 


pi m 


round  once  more,  They  creep 


••  f 


out  of  their  log  house 

= r-= 


door.  In  the 

I — 


sun  they  stretch  and 

— ft 


gape and 

i=fc 


pr-T^j  fre-fH 

W* 

r J v-~ 

gape and 

a a l * . 

gape In  the 

it  v r ^ 

sun  they  stretch  and 

|= 

f 

jape.— 

PH/  J ^ 

Af-ter  their  long  win-ter’s 

nap. 

1 

" Itfyl  - 

4^ 

^=P= 

£=■  J 

mm 

34 


railroad  tracks  at  a busy  junction  or  a 
large  freight  terminal. 

These,  too,  are  naturally  good 
places  at  which  to  look  for  signs  of 
foxes  and  of  big,  snowy  owls.  Where 
one  of  these  creatures  has  sat  in  wait 
for  the  mice  or  pounced  upon  one  of 
the  poor  fellows,  there  will  be  curious 
marks  to  study.  The  fox,  however,  is 
a great  traveler  and,  once  you  are  in 
the  open  or  wooded  country,  you 
should  be  constantly  on  the  lookout 
for  his  trail  although,  unless  foxes 
are  more  than  usually  numerous  in 
your  locality,  one  or  two  fresh  trails 
in  a walk  in  the  woods  are  all  that 
you  will  be  likely  to  see. 

WEEDY  FIELDS 

A weedy  field  is  perhaps  the  second 
best  place  for  wild  trails,  mostly  bird 
tracks.  Fields  of  goldenrod,  “stick- 
tights”  of  various  sorts,  mullen,  and 
other  heady  weeds,  in  the  shelter  of 
a wood,  with  perhaps  clumps  of  black 
haw  and  wild  plum — these  are  the 
places  for  winged  winter  gleaners. 
A search  of  such  localities  will  hardly 
fail  to  show  where  “snowflakes”,  tree 
sparrows,  horned  larks,  redpolls,  and 
perhaps  goldfinches  have  been  at 
work.  About  especially  seedy  stalks, 
of  the  right  kinds,  the  little  trails  are 
often  clustered  and  confused,  remind- 
ing one  of  the  mice  tracks  in  the 
swamp,  but  much  more  thickly  group- 
ed than  mouse  tracks  are  ever  found 
to  be. 

I have  watched  the  lively  birds 
making  just  such  trails  on  a frosty 
day.  How  they  did  flutter  and  flit 
about  one  weed  stalk,  one  of  the  flock 
trying  to  keep  all  the  rest  away  and, 
at  the  same  time,  feed  from  the  weed 
by  tiptoeing  or  flying  up  to  reach  the 
higher  seeds! 

WOODS  AND  THICKETS 

Woods  and  thickets  of  any  sort  may 
show  tracks  of  the  ruffed  grouse.  At 


’ I 


THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  RACCOON 


COTTONTAIL  TRACKS 

this  season,  however,  these  are  more 
often  found  in  an  alder  swamp  or  low- 
lying  alder  thicket.  Here  the  shy 
grouse  love  to  go  to  feed  on  the  buds 
and  catkins  of  alders  and  other  trees 
usually  found  in  such  places.  I have 
found  their  trails  very  numerous  for 
weeks  together  about  fresh  brush 
piles  where  woodmen  have  been  at 
work.  To  me,  the  trail  of  this  bird  is 
always  the  most  interesting  of  all. 
Here  and  there  are  places  where  the 


grouse  has  rested  a while  in  the  snow 
and  left  the  imprint  of  his  breast 
and  tail.  This  is  also  the  time  to  find 
the  snow  caves  where  these  birds 
spend  the  cold  nights  when  the  snow 
is  deep. 

Coming  to  the  big  woods  we  find 
the  tracks  of  red  squirrels  and  rab- 
bits most  abundant.  Here,  too,  we 
may  look  for  the  more  rare  trails  of 
gray  squirrels,  skunks,  and  raccoons. 
A woodcutter  once  told  me  of  felling 
a hollow  tree  in  which,  to  his  great 
surprise,  he  found  half  a dozen  or 
more  ’coons.  This  lazy  animal  seldom, 
if  ever,  stirs  abroad  in  bright  day- 
light but,  at  night,  he  unrolls  himself 
and  crawls  clumsily  down  from  the 
hollow  tree  in  which  he  spends  a great 
part  of  his  life.  His  tracks  are  indeed 
interesting  and,  if  possible,  they 
should  be  followed.  Can  you  tell  a 
’coon’s  trail  from  that  of  a skunk? 
Here  is  something  to  learn  in  the 
winter  woods. 

The  skunk  is  a born  ambler.  His 
trail  will  be  found  going  this  way  and 
that,  as  he  looked  for  food;  now  and 
then  he  has  stopped  to  root  down  to 
the  ground.  The  other  day,  I met  a 
little  skunk  going  about  rooting  with 
much  energy  in  the  muck  of  the 
wood.  Undisturbed,  he  allowed  me  to 
follow  him  about  until  I came  within 
a few  yards.  Then  he  would  face  about 
and  try  to  scare  me  by  making  little 
runs  in  my  direction,  and  scraping 
backward  with  his  front  feet,  a very 
peculiar  way  that  skunks  have. 

WINTER  SHELTERS 

Although  the  birds  seem  merry  and 
lively  and  the  red  squirrel  frisks 
across  the  snow,  the  wild  creatures 
really  have  little  love  for  frost  and 
bleakness.  The  squirrels  are  out  for 
food  and,  when  not  hunched  up  gnaw- 
ing a butternut,  or  a frozen  apple,  or 
looking  for  something  to  gnaw,  they 
will  be  found  curl-  (Turn  to  page  63) 


RUFFED  GROUSE  RED  squirrel  BOB-WHITE  IN  SHELTER 


35 


AUSTRALIAN  ANIMALS 

CURIOUS  ANIMALS  O F- T H E LAND  DOWN  UNDER 

FOR  PRIMARY  AND  INTERMEDIATE  GRADES 


i 


THE  KANGAROO 


Along  with  the  emu,  the  kangaroo  is  incorporated  in 
the  Australian  coat  of  arms.  The  largest  of  these  ani- 
mals are  the  red  and  gray  species.  Some  have  been 
known  to  clear  thirty  feet  in  one  leap.  The  animals  are 
exclusively  vegetarian.  They  are  harmless  and  may  be 
tamed. 


THE  KOALA 

The  Koala,  or  Teddy  Bear,  is  a quaint  creature,  easily 
tamed  and  perfectly  harmless.  It  is  extremely  slow  in 
movement  and  lives  entirely  in  trees.  It  feeds  exclu- 
sively on  certain  species  of  eucalyptus  trees. 


A PRICE  ON  HIS  HEAD! 

The  Australian  Dingo,  or  Wild  Dog, 
roams  the  land  in  large  numbers. 
These  dogs  are  killers  of  sheep  and  the 
government  pays  bounties  of  up  to 
$2.00  for  each  scalp  brought  in  by  a 
hunter. 


NO  SUCH  ANIMAL! 

When  the  first  stuffed  platypus  was 
sent  to  the  scientists  of  the  British 
Museum,  they  laughed  and  remarked, 
“There  ain’t  no  such  animal!”  The 
platypus  is  a combination  of  animal, 
bird,  fish  and  reptile.  It  has  short  fur, 
beaver-like  tail,  webbed  feet,  duck’s 
bill  and  rooster’s  spur.  It  is  at  ease  in 
the  water  or  on  the  land.  It  lays  eggs. 


FEATHERS,  BUT  NO  FLIGHT 

The  Emu  is  Australia’s  national  bird. 
It  can  neither  fly  nor  fight.  Its  brown- 
ish-black feathers,  although  attrac- 
tive, have  no  commercial  value.  The 
female  lays  up  to  18  eggs,  of  16  to 
18  ounces  in  weight.  They  have  no 
song,  but  make  a deep,  drumming 
sound.  Like  the  ostrich,  the  emu  can 
run  at  remarkable  speed  when  pur- 
sued. 


ALL  PICTURES  ABOVE.  AUSTRALIAN  INFORMATION  riidfaii 


THE  ECHIDNA 

The  Echidna  is  one  of  three  representatives  of  the 
most  primitive  mammals  on  earth.  The  echidna  is 
about  18  inches  long.  Its  back  and  sides  are  covered 
with  strong,  pointed  spines.  It  captures  its  food,  con- 
sisting mainly  of  ants,  by  means  of  its  long  tongue. 


CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAYS 


LYRE  BIRD 

The  lyre  bird  is  one  of  Australia’s  peculiar  birds,  so 
called  because  its  tail  is  shaped  like  a lyre.  It  is  the 
largest  of  all  song  birds  and  imitates  the  songs  of  other 
birds  and  the  sounds  of  animals. 


36 


Arrange  these  animal  names  in  al- 
rV  phabetical  order. 


rabbit 

turtle 

chipmunk 

ape 

kangaroo 

quail 

muskrat 

frog 

horse 

zebra 

squirrel 

goat 

beaver 

jaguar 

hippopotamus 

ox 

pony 

unicorn 

yak 

deer 

dog 

mouse 

wren 

man 

elephant 

lion 

woodchuck 

Check  with  your  dictionary  to  see  if 
you  have  arranged  them  properly. 

What  is  a rodent?  (Animals  that 
gnaw,  such  as  rats,  mice,  squirrels, 
hares  and  rabbits.) 

Choose  just  the  rodents  from  your 
list  of  animal  names,  and  arrange 
them  alphabetically. 

After  each  rodent’s  name,  write  a 
brief  description  of  each  animal. 

By  class  choice,  or  by  some  other 
method,  select  one  of  these  animals 
for  further  study. 

Let  the  group  compile  a list  of  ques- 
tions about  the  particular  animal  that 
is  their  choice,  either  individually  or 
as  a group.  (My  class  chose  the  rab- 
bit.) 

Study  of  Rabbit 

1.  See  pet  rabbit  and  observe  it. 

(a)  Hopping,  (b)  Making  its  toilet, 

(c)  Eating. 

2.  Look  at  pictures  in  books  and 
read  captions. 

3.  Read  stories. 

4.  Look  up  answers  to  questions 
that  have  not  been  cleared  up. 

(a)  Rabbits’  long  legs  are  helpful  to 
them.  They  have  strong,  hind  legs  to 
aid  them  in  escaping  their  enemies. 
They  are  able  to  jump  as  high  as  eight 
feet  at  one  time  while  hurrying  from 
fox,  mink,  weasels,  hawks,  owls, 
snakes,  or  man.  As  they  run  they 
place  their  hind  feet  on  each  side  and 
ahead  of  their  front  feet.  Their  five 
front  toes  and  four  hind  toes  do  not 
make  a distinct  track,  for  they  are  hair 
covered.  This  hair  also  protects  their 
feet  from  the  cold  while  they  are  sit- 
ting in  the  snow. 

(b)  Rabbits’  long  ears  are  helpful. 
Rabbits’  ears  are  not  just  ornamental. 
They  are  quick  to  detect  danger  and 
are  usually  on  guard.  When  the  long 
ears  stand  up  very  tall,  they  are 
keenly  studying  a particular  sound. 
If  one  ear  is  forward  and  one  points 
backward,  the  rabbit  is  trying  to  locate 
the  danger.  Rabbits’  ears  are  not  black 
tipped  as  are  those  of  the  hare. 

(c)  Rabbits’  colors  are  helpful  too. 
Cottontails’  colors  are  white  under- 
neath and  brown  topped  to  match  the 
snow  and  gray  brown  of  the  dead 
grasses  and  weed  stubs.  Therefore, 
unless  rabbits  move,  they  are  difficult 
to  detect.  The  snow-shoe  rabbits  have 
protective  coloring,  too.  In  summer, 
they  are  reddish  brown.  In  autumn, 
they  are  white. 

(d)  Rabbits  are  vegetarians.  Rab- 


FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 

The 

Rabbit  Unit 

With  special  reference 
to  alphabet  usage 

Jean  Currens 


_ - -.in.-liriMI'I.Bi- 


Your  pupils  will  be  delighted 
with  the  part  the  Easter  Bunny 
plays  in  this  unit. — The  Editor 

37 


bits’  foods  are  such  plants  as  the 
coarse  blades  of  cabbage,  turnip 
leaves,  celery,  carrot  tops,  chick-weed, 
sow  thistle,  dandelions,  clover,  blue 
grass,  parsley,  and  grains.  Another 
delicacy  in  the  rabbit’s  diet  is  bark. 
In  winter  when  most  plants  are  frozen 
or  snow  covered,  the  rabbit  makes 
himself  unpopular  with  farmers  by 
chewing  the  bark  of  young  fruit  trees 
and  berry  bushes. 

(e)  Rabbits  have  many  kinds  of 
homes.  The  cottontail  rabbit’s  home 
may  be  very  simple.  It  may  be  covered 
only  by  growing  weeds  and  just  wide 
enough  to  allow  them  to  enter.  When 
the  family  is  born,  the  nest  will  be  a 
very  shallow  excavation  lined  with  the 
female’s  own  hair.  In  winter,  the  rab- 
bit’s home  may  be  a vacated  wood- 
chuck or  skunk  burrow  called  a war- 
ren. 

(f)  Man  makes  use  of  rabbits.  Rab- 
bit meat  and  fur  have  long  been  used 
by  man.  Rabbit  skins  are  now  care- 
fully dyed  to  represent  ermine  and 
chinchilla.  Rabbit  hair  is  used  in  the 
making  of  many  felt  hats.  After  the 
hair  has  been  removed,  the  hides  are 
sold  to  glue  and  sizing  manufacturers. 

(g)  There  are  many  kinds  of  rabbits 
such  as  the  Belgian  hare,  lop-eared 
rabbit,  Dutch  rabbit,  Angora  rabbit, 
Siberian,  Himalayan,  Patagonian,  and 
Flemish  rabbits,  the  fancy  silvertip 
rabbit,  and  the  delicate  Pole  rabbit. 
The  jack  rabbit  is  really  a hare,  not  a 
rabbit. 

(h)  Easter,  the  rabbit’s  busy  day. 
The  rabbit  furnishes  part  of  the  Easter 
legend,  as  follows:  Bunny’s  gifts  on 
this  occasion  are  bright  colored  and 
beautifully  decorated  eggs.  Rabbits 
leave  their  eggs  in  houses,  behind  fur- 
niture, in  specially  decorated  baskets 
and  boxes,  and  other  obscure  places. 
On  Easter  morning  children  hunt  baby 
chicks,  eggs,  and  candy  rabbits.  Also 
bunny’s  picture  is  painted  with  the 
Easter  eggs  on  Easter  cards.  Bunny’s 
Easter  eggs  are  supposed  to  symbolize 
the  new  birth  of  springtide. 

5.  Discuss  findings. 

6.  Check  on  alphabet  work,  (a)  List 
enemies  of  the  rabbit  alphabetically. 
(h)  List  rabbits’  favorite  foods  alpha- 
betically. (c)  List  kinds  of  rabbits 
alphabetically. 

7.  Let  each  child  pretend  to  be  a 
rabbit  and  tell  of  his  own  experiences. 

(a)  A Narrow  Escape 

(b)  One  of  My  Experiences 

(c)  Getting  Food 

(d)  Danger  One  Warm  Winter  Day 

( e)  My  New  Mate 

({)  Training  My  Family 

(g)  How  I Protect  Myself 

(h)  Easter,  My  Important  Day 

(i)  Why  My  Ears  Are  So  Long 

(j)  I’m  In  A Glue  Bottle 

(k)  Sewed  to  A Coat 

(l)  How  A Hunter  Almost  Got  Me 

(m)  When  I’m  At  Home 

(n)  My  Relatives 


RABBITS-WILD  AND  TAME 

A UNIT  OF  STUDY  APPROPRIATE  FOR  EASTER* 

ELLA  BACON 

FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


I.  OBJECTIVE 

A.  To  gain  knowledge  of  the  value 
of  rabbits  to  man. 

B.  To  increase  the  love  for  rabbits 
as  pets. 

II.  AIMS 

A.  Teacher’s  aims. 

1.  To  teach  the  pupils  to  read. 

2.  To  teach  them  to  search  for 
suitable  materials. 

3.  To  give  them  an  opportunity  to 
use  different  forms  of  composi- 
tion. 

4.  To  teach  them  to  protect  rab- 
bits, and  to  appreciate  nature. 

B.  Pupils’  aim. 

1.  To  find  out  what  they  can  about 
rabbits. 

III.  MATERIALS 

A.  Pictures. 

1.  Of  rabbit  life. 

2.  Of  rabbits  by  famous  artists. 

B.  Stories. 

C.  Easy  Poems. 

IV.  PREPARATION 

A.  Ask  such  questions  as: 

1.  Where  was  the  original  home 
of  the  rabbit? 

2.  Do  you  know  the  name  of  a wild 
rabbit  and  a tame  rabbit? 

3.  Do  wild  rabbits  store  food  for 
winter  ? 

4.  Do  wild  rabbits  carry  food  to 
their  burrows? 

5.  What  do  you  think  they  find  to 
eat? 

B.  Read  to  the  pupils  interesting 
poems  and  stories. 

C.  Show  them  pictures  of  rabbits. 

D.  Let  one  of  the  pupils  bring  a pet 
rabbit  to  school.  Have  him  tell 
how  he  takes  care  of  his  rabbit. 


J.  JAY  HIRZ 


J.  JAY  HIRZ 


BUNNY  AT  HOME 

V.  PRESENTATION  OF  PROBLEM- 

A.  Structure  of  rabbit. 

1.  Body. 

2.  Ears. 

3.  Eyes. 

4.  Nose. 

5.  Mouth. 

6.  Legs. 

7.  Feet. 

B.  Homes. 

1.  In  the  briar  patch. 

2.  Under  the  root  of  a tree. 

3.  In  the  hay  field. 

4.  In  a hollow  tree  or  log. 

5.  In  a hutch. 

6.  In  a sandy  bank. 

C.  Food  and  feeding. 

1.  Dry  foods — hay  and  grain. 

2.  Green  foods — garden  vegeta- 

♦This  unit  was  worked  out  in  the  public  schools 
of  Escanaba,  Michigan. 


bles,  weeds,  grass,  and  clover. 

3.  Water — fresh  all  the  time. 

4.  Salt — piece  of  rock  salt  kept  in 
the  hutch. 

5.  No  wet  or  stale  food. 

6.  Time  for  feeding — twice  a day. 

D.  Habits  to  observe. 

1.  Position  of  legs,  body,  ears,  and 
eyes  when  sleeping,  lying  down, 
sitting  up,  listening,  frightened, 
or  hungry. 

2.  Fighting. 

a.  Manner  of  indicating  anger: 
thumping. 

b.  Manner  of  fighting:  biting 
and  kicking. 

3.  Mother  rabbit  and  her  babies. 

a.  Carries  her  babies  as  a moth- 
er cat  does  her  kittens. 

b.  Rabbits  never  should  be  car- 
ried by  their  ears. 

c.  Baby  rabbits  are  born  blind 
and  helpless. 

d.  Baby  rabbits  taken  away 
from  their  mother  after  two 
months. 

4.  Movements. 

a.  Walking,  hopping,  jumping. 

b.  Digging. 

c.  Tracks  (recognition  of 
tracks ) . 

5.  Personal  cleanliness. 

a.  Washing,  with  tongue. 

b.  Brushing,  with  foot. 

6.  Sounds. 

a.  Extreme  fright — loud  shriek. 

b.  Terror  or  pain — long-drawn 
shriek. 

c.  Thumping  of  foot  in  anger, 
warning,  and  mating. 

E.  Enemies. 

1.  Bird  enemies — hawks  and  owls. 

2.  Mammal  enemies  — coyotes, 
dogs,  and  cats. 

3.  Human  enemies — traps,  poison, 


H.  ARMSTRONG  ROBERTS 


KEYSTONE 


WHITE  NEW  ZEALAND 


38 


WHITE  ANGORA 


GRAY  ANGORA 


UNDERWOOD  ft  UNDERWOOD 

SPECIALLY  BRED  LONG  EARED  RABBITS 


hunters,  automobiles,  and  bad 
boys. 

4.  Miscellaneous  enemies — snakes. 

5.  Protection  from  enemies. 

a.  Protective  coloration. 

b.  Freezing,  sitting  still. 

c.  Telegraphing. 

d.  Tricks — hiding,  dodging. 

e.  Fighting. 

VI.  VALUE  TO  MAN 

A.  Pet3. 

B.  Food. 

C.  Fur. 

VII.  DAMAGE  CAUSED  BY  RABBITS 

A.  To  bark  of  young  trees  by  gnaw- 
ing. 

B.  To  crops  in  garden,  vineyards,  and 
hay  fields. 

VIII.  ACTIVITIES  AND  TESTS 

A.  Language. 

1.  Oral. 

a.  Questions  and  answers. 

b.  Informational  sentences 
about  rabbits  using  the  new 
vocabulary. 

c.  Reciting  selected  poems 
about  rabbits. 

B.  Reading. 

1.  Read  stories  relating  to  rabbits. 

2.  Ability  to  use  intelligently  and 
correctly  the  words  on  the 
vocabulary  chart. 

3.  Seatwork  based  on  class  discus- 
sions. 

4.  Blackboard  reading  about  rab- 
bits. 

C.  Spelling. 

1.  Words  relating  to  rabbits,  as 
hutch,  nest,  thumping,  wild, 
tame. 


UNDERWOOD  & UNDERWOOD 

FLEMISH  GIANT 


D.  New  vocabulary. 

rabbits 

foxes 

briar  patch 

value 

root 

flesh 

runways 

hutch 

grains 

nest 

weeds 

hollow 

fresh 

dry 

hind 

vegetables 

tracks 

clover 

fighter 

legs 

tail 

front 

sensitive 

dodger 

three-cornered 

ground 

forwards 

ears 

brushes 

mouth 

dogs 

sharp 

weasels 

tongue 

danger 

enemies 

food 

traps 

tame 

snakes 

wild 

man 

tree 

skin 

buck 

hole 

green 

safe 

grass 

hay  field 

salt 

hay 

strong 

garden 

jumper 

water 

thumps 

long 

cotton 

weak 

twinkles 

digger 

eyes 

telegraphs 

washes 

nose 

foot 

motion 

boys 

backwards 

fur  freezes 

hunters  pets 

poison  glue 

E.  Art. 

1.  Draw  pictures  of  rabbits. 

2.  Cut  rabbits  freehand. 

3.  Directed  lessons. 

4.  Booklet  on  rabbits. 


F.  Types  of  seatwork. 

1.  Blank  filling. 

1.  The  cottontails  are  

rabbits. 

2.  Cottontails  get  their  name 

from  their  

3.  Cottontails  have  brown  fur 

in 

4.  They  have  gray  fur  in 

5.  They  have  very  long 

6.  Their legs  are  strong. 

7.  Their  hind  legs  keep  them 

out  of 

8.  They  have  on  their 

feet. 

1.  summer  5.  winter 

2.  cushions  6.  ears 

3. 'hind  7.  tail 

4.  danger  8.  wild 

2.  Multiple  Choice 

1.  A cottontail  rabbit  is 

a.  tame  b.  red  c.  wild 

2.  He  gets  his  name  from  his 
a.  ears  b.  tail  c.  noise 

3.  In  summer  his  fur  is 

a.  red  b.  black  c.  brown 

4.  He  likes  to  eat 

a.  clover  b.  nuts  c.  corn 

5.  He  is  sometimes  called  a 
a.  dodger  b.  cat  c.  dog 

6.  His  home  is  called  a 

a.  farm  b.  house  c.  den 

7.  He  wash-  (Turn  to  page  60) 


KEYSTONE 

VARIOUS  BREEDS 

39 


UNDERWOOD  S UNDERWOOD 

CHINCHILLAS 


The  Squirrel 

I stood  this  morning  at  my  kitchen  door 

And  watched  a squirrel  beneath  our  hickory  trees. 

His  bushy  tail  went  scurrying  in  the  breeze 
As  nuts  he  found  and  buried  by  the  score. 

Indeed,  he  must  have  hid  two  winters’  store! 

What  inspirations  from  such  scenes  accrue! 

Briskly  he  worked  with  eye,  and  leg,  and  tail. 

In  this,  his  biggest  job,  he  would  not  fail. 

Some  men  have  never  learned  what  this  squirrel  knew: 

Successful  living  calls  for  work  to  do. 

— LELAND  B.  JACOBS 

THE  SQUIRREL  UNIT 

MATERIAL  FOR  A REQUIRED  ACTIVITY 


MARGARET  FITZSIMMONS 

FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


I.  OBJECTIVE 

a.  To  learn  about  squirrels  and  their 
habits. 

II.  POINTS  DEVELOPED  IN  THE  STUDY 

a.  Squirrel  Family 

1.  Squirrels 

2.  Flying  squirrels 

3.  Ground  squirrels 

4.  Chipmunks 

5.  Prairie  dogs 

b.  Classes 

1.  Tree  squirrels 

2.  Ground  squirrels 

3.  Flying  squirrels 

c.  Description 

1.  Short  and  strong  legs 

2.  Bushy  tail  for  balancing 

3.  Sharp,  long  front  teeth 


PICTURES  FROM  "THE  CHISEL-TOOTH  TRIBE"  BY 
WILFRED  S.  BRONSON:  COURTESY  HARCOURT.  BRACE  A CO. 


4.  Sharp  claws 

d.  Homes 

1.  Winter  homes 

a.  In  the  hollows  of  maple,  birch, 
beech,  oak,  and  pine. 

b.  Among  the  roots  of  trees. 

2.  Summer  homes 

a.  Nests  constructed  of  twigs  and 
leaves  and  located  on  high 
branches. 

b.  Nests  made  in  apple  trees 
and  located  nearer  to  the 
ground. 

e.  Food 

1.  Nuts 

2.  Grain 

3.  Apple  seeds 

4.  Berries 

5.  Worms 


6.  Pine  seeds 

III.  VOCABULARY 

ground 

bushy 

haunches 

tree 

tails 

hollow 

slender 

acorns 

store 

long 

food 

body 

lives 

noisy 

chatter 

cones 

nest 

snug 

leaves 

lined 

claws 

shelter 

trunks 

parks 

family 

hair 

color 

curious 

berries 

enemy 

flying 

graceful 

tame 

spread 

frisky 

IV.  MATERIALS 

a.  Pictures  of  squirrels  from  mag- 
azines and  newspapers. 

b.  Stories. 

c.  Poems. 

V.  OUTCOMES 
a.  Language. 


1.  Simple  informational  sentences. 

2.  Riddles. 

b.  Reading. 

1.  Supplementary  readers. 

2.  Library  books. 

3.  Charts. 

4.  Seatwork. 

c.  Art. 

1.  Paper  cutting — borders. 

2.  Easel  work. 

3.  Crayon  illustrations. 

VI.  SEATWORK 

a.  True  and  False  Statements. 

1.  Squirrels  are  about  20  inches 
long. 

2.  Squirrels  line  their  nests. 

3.  The  squirrel  is  an  animal  that  is 
not  often  heard. 

4.  The  squirrel  is  very  lazy. 

5.  Squirrels  have  but  one  nest. 

6.  The  squirrel  stores  food  away  in 
hidden  places. 

7.  The  squirrel  steals  sap  from  the 
trees. 

8.  Squirrels  are  the  same  color  all 
the  year. 

9.  Squirrels  like  to  chatter. 

b.  Blank  filling. 

1.  Red  squirrel  hides  nuts  under 


2.  He  likes  to  drink  

3.  He  has  homes. 

4.  He  likes  to  

5.  He  has teeth. 

6.  His  tail  keeps  him  

7.  He  likes  to  eat  seeds. 

8.  Red  squirrel  is 

9.  He  can  nuts. 

a.  four  f.  sharp 

b.  warm  g.  open 

c.  playful  h.  sap 

d.  pine  i.  chatter 

e.  trees  j.  two 

c.  Classification. 

Put  the  numbers  of  the  sentences  in 
the  correct  column.  (Turn  to  page  56) 


40 


HOW  ANIMALS  KEEP  CLEAN 

A CORRELATION  OF  NATURE  STUDY  AND  HEALTH 

H.  B.  BRADFORD 


The  Easter  season  when,  with  the 
approach  of  spring,  the  children  are 
especially  interested  in  birds  and  ani- 
mals is  a good  time  to  impress  upon 
them  the  importance  of  cleanliness  in 
the  care  of  pets.  All  students  of  child 
life  consider  it  advisable  for  every 
child  to  own  a pet  and  to  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  its  care.  And  one  of  the 
best  ways  to  motivate  the  study  of 
health  in  relation  to  the  child’s  own 
welfare  is  through  the  study  of  how 
animals  keep  themselves  clean.  This 
study  will  impress  upon  children  not 
only  that  they  should  take  proper 
care  of  the  pets  themselves,  but  also 
that  they  should  keep  the  homes 
which  are  provided  for  their  pets  neat 
and  attractive. 

Those  who  have  seen  how  dirty 
some  farmers’  pigs  and  other  animals 
usually  appear  may  think  that  un- 
cleanliness is  the  usual  condition  of 
most  animals  but  this  is  not  the  case. 
The  mud  bath  of  the  buffalo,  for  ex- 
ample, is  a cleansing  process.  The 
buffalo’s  wallow  serves  as  a sort  of 
scrubbing  hole.  The  mud  soon  dries 


Editor's  Note:  The  accompanying  illustra- 
tions show  a wasp  cleaning  an  antenna  by 
its  mouth  "jaws";  a kangaroo,  a cat,  and 
a mouse  washing  their  faces;  a fly  cleaning 
its  wings  with  its  hind  legs;  and  a group 
of  chickens,  two  oxen,  and  three  rabbits  at 
their  toilets,  in  the  order  named. 

• 

into  cakes  upon  the  animal’s  hide 
and  either  falls  or  is  rubbed  off,  tak- 
ing with  it  loose  hair  and  much  other 
irritating  matter.  When  pigs  are  al- 
lowed to  graze  and  root  in  a large 
field,  they  are  cleanly  animals.  Young 
pigs  are  always  clean  unless  they  are 
kept  in  a dirty  pen. 

The  uncleanly  condition  of  certain 
domestic  animals,  such  as  horses  and 
cows,  is  the  result  of  their  owner’s 
carelessness.  The  cows  of  a careless 
farmer  are  likely  to  be  dirty  unless 
the  local  Board  of  Health  or  milk  in- 
spector takes  charge.  A good  farmer 
keeps  the  coats  of  his  cows  as  clean 
and  smooth  as  he  keeps  those  of  his 
horses.  All  horses  like  to  roll  on  the 
earth  in  some  dry,  bare  spot,  because 


it  enables  them  to  scrub  their  back 
and  shoulders  which  they  cannot 
reach  in  any  other  way.  The  tongues 
of  cattle  are  very  rough  and  are  often 
used  to  smooth  their  own  coats  and 
those  of  their  offspring.  They  often 
help  each  other  in  tidying  up  and 
proffer  their  services  to  others  of 
their  own  kind.  If  you  rub  any  ani- 
mal the  wrong  way  you  will  notice 
how  quickly  he  will  try  to  smooth 
himself. 

The  members  of  the  cat  tribe,  in- 
cluding lions  and  tigers,  use  their 
rough  tongues  as  damp  brushes  for 
the  cleansing  and  smoothing  of  their 
fur.  They  also  wash  their  faces  by 
licking  a foreleg  just  back  of  the  foot 
and  then  rubbing  it  over  the  head, 
especially  over  the  face,  now  and 
then  extending  the  process  over  the 
ears. 

Rats,  mice,  squirrels,  and  rabbits 
use  both  paws  simultaneously  over 
the  face,  except  when  they  reach  up 
to  and  over  the  ears.  Then  they  usu- 
ally attend  to  each  ear  with  one  paw 
at  a time.  Rabbits,  (Turn  to  page  56) 


41 


THE  TIGER 


MONKEYS 


THE  LION 


WIDE  WORLO 


WILD  ANIMALS 

A SOCIAL  SCIENCE  UNIT 

GERALDINE  BUHR,  DOROTHY  GILBERT 

FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


I.  OBJECTIVES 

1.  To  give  knowledge  of  several  wild 

animals. 

a.  where  they  live 

b.  what  they  eat 

c.  how  they  protect  themselves 

d.  their  usefulness  to  man 

e.  their  outstanding  characteris- 
tics 

2.  To  give  appreciation  of  wonders 

of  wild  life. 

II.  ACTIVITIES 

1.  Language 

a.  Discussion  of  animals  to  gain 
information  about  the  lion, 
tiger,  elephant,  giraffe,  camel, 
monkey,  deer,  and  bear. 

b.  Cooperative  riddles. 

c.  Cooperative  stories  about  the 
animals. 

The  Lion 

The  lion  has  a heavy  mane.  He  has 
a strong  tail.  He  can  knock  a man 
down  with  his  tail.  The  lion  puts  his 
head  to  the  ground  and  roars.  He  must 
be  eighteen  months  old  before  he  can 
roar.  He  kills  only  when  he  is  hungry. 

The  lion  lives  in  the  jungle.  He  is 
called  “King  of  the  Beasts”.  A mother 
lion  is  called  a lioness. 

The  Giraffe 


lives  in  the  depth  of  the  jungle. 

The  Bear 

Bears  live  in  the  forest.  They  eat 
berries,  leaves,  and  honey.  They  sleep 
all  winter  in  a cave.  Bears  have  strong 
claws.  They  can  climb  trees.  They  can 
walk  on  two  or  four  feet.  They  are 
quick  to  learn  to  do  tricks. 

Camels 

A camel  lives  in  the  desert.  Some 
camels  have  two  humps  on  their 
backs.  Some  camels  have  one  hump. 
He  has  long  eyebro\ys  to  keep  off  the 
sun.  His  feet  have  pads  under  them. 
He  eats  leaves  and  bushes.  He  can  go 
many  days  without  food  and  water. 
He  stores  fat  in  his  hump.  He  has 
two  stomachs.  One  holds  water. 
Camels  work  like  horses. 

The  Monkey 

A monkey  has  a very  long  tail.  He 
has  hands  and  feet  like  people.  He  is 
playful.  He  is  easy  to  train  to  do 
tricks.  He  can  hang  by  his  tail.  A 
monkey  lives  in  the  trees.  A monkey 
eats  cocoanuts  and  fruit. 

2.  Reading. 

a.  New  vocabulary 

heavy  mane  ivory  tusks 

sharp  teeth  ( Turn  to  page  61) 


THE  ELEPHANT 


THE  CAMEL 

UNDERWOOD  STRATTON 


The  giraffe  is  the  tallest  animal.  He 
has  a long  neck.  He  has  brown  spots. 
He  has  a long  tongue.  It  is  covered 
with  gum  to  keep  from  getting  sun- 
burned. He  has  long  hair  on  his  lips 
so  thorns  won’t  prick  him.  He  is  a 
lonely  animal.  He  would  die  if  left 
alone.  Giraffes  do  not  make  any  noise. 

The  Elephant 

The  elephant  is  the  largest  animal. 
He  has  a long  trunk.  He  can  carry 
big  logs  with  his  trunk.  He  can  pick 
up  peanuts,  too.  He  has  ivory  tusks. 
He  can  swim  and  walk  under  water. 

The  elephant’s  skin  is  gray  and 
very  tough. 

Elephants  can  do  tricks. 

The  Tiger 

The  tiger  belongs  to  the  cat  family. 
A tiger  is  orange  and  black.  He  looks 
like  sunshine  and  shadows.  A tiger 
is  wicked.  He  kills  other  animals  for 
fun.  He  has  very  sharp  teeth.  A tiger 


UNDERWOOD  a UNDE  * WOOD 

GIRAFFE 

Tallest  animal  in  the  world. 


42 


NATURE  STUDY  CLASS 


SQUIRRELS 

MATERIAL  FOR  A SQUIRREL  UNIT  OR  THE 

GERTRUDE  MOORE 


THE  RED  SQUIRREL 

The  red  squirrel  is  as  much  a part 
of  the  October  landscape  as  are  drop- 
ping nuts,  and  red  and  yellow  leaves. 
His  gay  little  chatter  belongs  to 
autumn  woods  quite  as  much  as  the 
bobolink’s  song  does  to  June  mea- 
dows. 

See  the  little  red  squirrel  in  the 
picture  ? He  fairly  bubbles  over  with 
fun.  He  is  as  full  of  pranks  as  a hand 
organ  is  of  tunes.  His  home  is  the 
great  green  wood.  The  fences  and 
stone  walls  are  his  highways.  On 
them  he  travels  to  orchards  when 
apples  are  ripe.  Only  occasionally, 
when  times  are  hard,  does  he  venture 
to  some  barn  and  help  himself  to  the 
farmer’s  grain. 

Many  times  on  his  journeys  he 
stops  for  lunch.  He  sits  up  straight 
and  fits  his  long  bushy  tail  into  the 
graceful  curve  of  his  back.  Between 
his  paws  he  holds  a ripe  hickory  nut. 
He  turns  it  from  side  to  side  and 
crunches  into  it  with  his  sharp  white 
teeth.  He  munches  daintily.  All  the 
time  his  big,  bright  eyes  watch,  his 
keen  ears  listen.  He  is. one  quiver  of 
excitement  from  the  tip  of  his  ears  to 
the  end  of  his  tail.  A sound — he  is  off 
and  away,  a streak  of  rusty  red 
against  the  gray  of  the  fence  rail. 

If  he  finds  that  he  need  not  have 
been  frightened,  he  stops  again,  pulls 
himself  together  with  many  a quick 
jerk  and  turn,  and  goes  on  with  his 
meal.  He  cocks  his  pretty  head,  now 
on  one  side,  now  on  the  other.  If  he 
sees  you  peering  at  him,  he  looks  you 
all  over.  When  he  finds  that  you  do 
not  intend  to  harm  him,  he  screams 
and  laughs  and  chatters.  So  saucy  is 
he  that  you  are  quite  sure  he  is  say- 
ing, “Oh,  what  a silly  thing  it  is  to  be 
a little  boy.  It’s  so  much  more  fun 


COURTESY  AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 


RED  SQUIRREL 


UNDERWOOD  a UNDERWOOD 


CHIPMUNK 

to  be  a squirrel  and  be  free  like  me!” 

He  is  such  a happy-go-lucky  sort  of 
fellow  that  he  doesn’t  bother  much  to 
lay  up  food  for  the  winter.  Some- 
times, he  stores  a few  extra  nuts  here 
and  there,  in  case  he  should  need 
them,  in  the  forked  branches  of  trees, 
or  hides  them  away  in  saplings.  This 
isn’t  such  a poor  plan  in  some  ways, 
either.  For  with  his  food  thus  scat- 
tered about,  the  red  squirrel  can  go 
away  from  home,  quite  sure  that  no 
thief  can  rifle  all  his  stores.  He  is 
more  or  less  active  all  winter. 

When  freezing  days  come,  the  little 
red  squirrel  may  know  some  hungry 
minutes,  but  he  scurries  about  over 
the  snow,  sure  that  he  will  find  some- 
thing to  eat.  Perhaps  there  are  a few 
frozen  apples  left  in  the  orchard.  The 


FLYING  SQUIRREL 

43 


seeds  of  these  will  do  for  breakfast. 
Sometimes  he  dines  scantily  on 
sumach  buds,  or  on  the  seeds  he  finds 
hidden  away  in  hemlock  cones. 

THE  CHIPMUNK 

Another  lively  little  squirrel  is  the 
chipmunk.  He  is  lighter  in  color  than 
the  red  squirrel,  his  tail  is  shorter 
and  smaller,  and  he  has  long,  narrow, 
black  stripes  on  each  side  of  his  body. 

If  you  could  examine  his  mouth, 
you  would  find  a tiny  flap  of  skin  on 
the  inside  of  each  cheek.  These  open 
inside  and  make  very  handy  little 
pockets.  Thanks  to  these  pockets,  he 
doesn’t  need  to  carry  his  food  in  his 
teeth,  as  other  squirrels  do. 

The  chipmunk  lives  in  a hole  which 
he  digs  in  the  ground.  It  would  seem 
that  the  little  fellow  would  leave 
somewhere  nearby  the  loose  soil 
which  he  digs  out,  but  usually  there 
isn’t  a trace  of  it  to  be  seen  after  the 
snug  little  nest  is  finished.  Only  the 
little  builder  himself  knows  where 
he  conceals  it. 

For  food  he  likes  a maple  leaf  quite 
as  well  as  anything.  He  picks  out  a 
good-sized  one,  and  with  both  hands 
tucks  it  into  those  handy  little  pock- 
ets of  his.  Then  away  he  goes  by  the 
most  roundabout  paths  to  his  home. 

Close  to  his  home  he  stores  a tidy 
pile  of  nuts,  enough  to  last  him  all 
winter.  In  December,  he  goes  into  his 
den.  There  he  stays,  warm  and  cozy, 
all  winter  long.  He  always  lives  by 
himself.  He  does  not  usually  come 
out  of  his  nest  until  March.  Then  he 
is  up  and  stirring.  Who  could  sleep 
under  the  ground  when  woodpeckers 
drum  and  frogs  chirp  that  spring  has 
come? 

March  is  mating  time  for  chip- 
munks. In  May,  four  or  five  babies  are 
born  to  the  proud  ( Turn  to  page  58) 


GRAY  SQUIRREL 


TURNING  WHITE 

A LESSON  IN  WINTER  NATURE  STUDY 

GEORGE  KING 


With  the  first  snowfall,  all  nature 
turns  white.  Even  the  air  is  “whited,” 
as  Emerson  has  said: 

The  whited  air 

Hides  hills  and  woods,  the  river,  and 
the  heaven, 

And  veils  the  farm-house  at  the  gar- 
den’s end. 

Many  plants  act  their  part  in  this 
transformation,  for  the  change  is  not 
limited  to  the  world  of  frost  crystals. 
Long  ago,  the  goldenrod  turned 
brown,  but  now  it  has  become  white 
and  stands  out  clear  and  bright 
against  the  weatherbeaten  fence  or 
the  grayish  blackness  of  the  stone 
wall.  The  hawkweeds,  too,  have  passed 
from  yellow  to  brown  and  then  to  a 
wintry  whiteness.  The  fluffy  thistle- 
heads,  once  so  rich  a purple,  and  the 
milkweed  pods,  once  heavy  with  their 
burden  of  brown  seeds  overlapping 
one  another  like  the  scales  of  some 
great  fish,  are  now  tossing  aloft  their 
white  seeds  by  the  handful. 

An  apple  tree  by  the  roadside  has 
been  embraced  by  a part  of  the  win- 
ter’s white  flora,  for  the  beautiful, 
plume-like  fruit  of  the  clematis, 
whose  woody  stems  have  climbed  far 
up  among  its  supporting  and  protect- 
ing branches,  is  adorning  it. 

Some  fence  corners  and  trees  as- 
sume a floral  whiteness,  while  others 
are  beautified  by  crystals,  and  the 
buildings  are  “new-roofed  with  Car- 
rara.”1 

From  sheds  new-roofed  with  Carrara 
Came  Chanticleer’s  muffled  crow, 
The  stiff  rails  softened  to  swan’s  down 
And  still  fluttered  down  the  snow. 
The  brooks  soon  become  fringed 
with  white  sculpturing;  window- 
panes,  fence  rails,  even  the  stones  of 
the  city’s  pavements,  are  decorated 
with  dainty  lace  work  in  patterns 
that  only  Nature’s  fancy  can  evolve. 


But,  more  wonderful  than  all  these 
apparently  accidental  examples  of 
winter’s  whiteness,  are  Nature’s  in- 
tentional changes  in  her  efforts  to 
adapt  to  their  surroundings  those 
creatures  whose  welfare  will  be  en- 
hanced by  a resemblance  to  the  gen- 
erally prevailing  character  of  the 
season. 

PROTECTIVE  COLORATION 

Probably  the  most  marked  exam- 
ples of  such  seasonal  changes  are  af- 
forded by  the  ptarmigan  and  the  er- 
mine weasel.  In  summer,  the  ptarmi- 
gan, a member  of  the  grouse  family, 
is  mottled  with  black  and  a rich, 
fluffy  brown  but,  in  winter,  it  becomes 
pure  white.  The  snowy  owl  and  the 
snow-buntings,  which  come  to  us 
from  the  far  north,  have  whitish 
plumage  that  blends  harmoniously 
with  the  prevailing  whiteness  of  the 
landscape. 


lA  very  white  marble. 


VARYING  HARE 


But  perhaps  the  most  interesting 
example  in  all  nature  is  the  weasel, 
whose  fur,  in  summer,  has  a peculiar- 
ly soft  shade  of  reddish-brown  but,  in 
winter,  except  at  the  tip  of  the  tail,  is 
pure  white.  This  black  point  is  prob- 
ably useful  to  its  owner  in  diverting 
the  attention  of  a carnivorous  bird  or 
of  a beast  of  prey,  as  the  black  spot 
is  more  readily  seen  than  the  white 
body  of  the  animal.  It  is  said,  too, 
that,  if  the  tip  of  the  weasel’s  tail  is 
covered  with  snow,  the  whole  animal 
becomes  clearly  visible.  It  is  also  said 
that,  if  the  first  snowfall  is  later  than 
usual,  the  color  change  is  delayed  ac- 
cordingly. 

The  arctic  fox,  in  the  far  north,  is 
snow-white  throughout  the  year.  Far- 
ther south,  its  coat  is  bluish-brown 
in  summer  but  becomes  white  in  win- 
ter. 

TWO  FUR  COATS  A YEAR 

In  the  case  of  the  plants  above  re- 
ferred to,  the  tissues  themselves  are 
bleached.  Animals  become  white 
through  a change  of  covering.  The 
summer  coat  of  hair,  fur,  or  feather, 
does  not  change  in  color,  but  is  re- 
placed by  a new  growth.  This  is  well 
explained  in  the  following  description 
of  the  varying  hare,  in  “American 
Animals” : 

“Much  has  been  written  on  the 
change  of  color  of  the  varying  hare 
and  other  mammals  and  birds,  but 
there  are  few  subjects  concerning 
which  more  mistakes  have  been  made. 
We  read  of  the  change  taking  place 
in  a single  night,  coincident  with  the 
first  fall  of  snow  and  of  the  actual 
blanching  of  the  individual  hairs.  One 
statement  is  quite  as  erroneous  as 
the  other.  The  change  is  really  very 
simple.  All  mammals,  in  northern 
climes  at  least,  shed  ( Turn  to  page  55) 


WEASEL 


44 


ANIMALS  AND  FLOWERS 

TWO  UNITS  WHICH  INCLUDE  MANY  THINGS  TO  DO 

J.  BUHR,  FLORENCE  EASTWOOD 


FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


Animals 

sheep 

chickens 

goat 

2.  Which  are  garden  flowers  ? 

hen 

squirrel 

bird 

3.  What  are  the  colors  of  each  ? 

J.  BUHR 

Animal  food. 

4.  How  does  each  one  grow  ? 

OBJECTIVES 

corn 

grass 

meat 

a.  Close  to  the  ground  or  tall  ? 

1.  To  enable  children  to  recognize 

hay 

milk 

carrots 

b.  On  vines  ? 

common  pets  and  other  animals. 

oats 

acorns 

nuts 

c.  On  bushes  ? 

2.  To  teach  them  the  following  tacts 

Extra  vocabulary. 

5.  Where  does  each  one  grow  ? 

about  these  animals: 

fat 

rides 

like 

a.  In  wet  places  ? 

a.  appearance. 

pretty 

help 

ears 

b.  Under  leaves  ? 

b.  food. 

give 

farmer 

tail 

c.  In  gardens  ? 

c.  homes. 

wool 

eat 

d.  In  dry,  sunny  places  ? 

d.  usefulness  to  man. 

Baby  animals. 

e.  In  greenhouses  ? 

e.  characteristics. 

kitten 

puppy 

lamb 

f.  On  lawns  or  beside  roads  ? 

f.  how  they  protect  themselves. 

colt 

kid 

6.  Why  do  we  have  so  many  dan< 

3.  To  develop  a feeling  of  kindness 

calf 

chickens 

lions?  How  do  they  get  plante 

toward  animals. 

Animal  sounds. 

Describe  their  seed. 

Bow-wow 

Moo,  Moo 

Cluck,  Cluck 

ACTIVITIES  AND  CORRELATIONS 

Baa,  Baa 

Mew,  Mew 

Quack,  Quack 

SEAT  WORK 

1.  Field  trips  to  the  zoo  and  to  see 
kittens,  rabbits,  dogs,  and  other 
pets. 

2.  Writing. 

a.  Writing  names  of  the  animals. 

3.  Art. 

a.  Directed  pictures  of  animals. 

b.  Free  illustrations  for  booklets. 

c.  Cut-out  animals. 

d.  Posters. 

4.  Language. 

a.  Oral  discussion  about  animals  to 
gain  information. 

b.  Cooperative  stories  as  in  a class 
booklet. 

c.  Cooperative  riddles  such,  for  ex- 
ample, as  the  following: 

I have  big  ears.  I say,  “Wee  Wee”. 
I have  a little  tail.  What  am  I ? 

I can  hop. 

I like  carrots.  1 helP  the  farmer- 

What  am  I?  I give  you  rides. 

I can  gallop. 

I am  pretty.  j ujje  oatg. 

I eat  grass.  What,am  I? 

I say,  “Baa  Baa”. 

I give  you  wool.  I am  little. 

What  am  I ? I like  milk. 

I am  big.  I say,  “Mew  Mew”. 

I give  milk.  What  am  I? 

I eat  hay.  I like  to  run. 

I say,  “Moo  Moo”,  j can  play  balL 
What  am  I?  x eat  meat. 

I am  fat.  I say,  “Bow-wow”. 

I like  corn.  What  am  I ? 

d.  Poems  about  animals. 

5.  Reading. 

a.  Vocabulary. 

Animal  names. 
cat  cow  pig 

dog  horse  rabbit 


6.  Seatwork.  Examples  of  the  fore- 
going made  up  into  booklets. 

Flowers 

FLORENCE  EASTWOOD 

AIMS 

1.  To  give  children  an  appreciation  of 
the  beauty  of  flowers  as  to  their 

a.  Coloring. 

b.  Form. 

c.  Fragrance. 

d.  Texture. 

2.  To  teach  the  care  of  growing  flow- 
ers and  their  needs  of 

a.  Sun. 

b.  Water. 

c.  Air. 

d.  Good  earth. 

3.  To  teach  the  parts  of  flowers  and 
their  uses. 

a.  Blossom. 

b.  Stem. 

c.  Roots. 

d.  Leaves. 

4.  To  interest  children  in  making  flow- 
er gardens  at  home,  caring  for  them 
properly,  and  reaping  a reward  of 
beautiful  blossoms. 

COMMON  SPRING  FLOWERS 


1.  Arbutus. 

2.  Rose. 

3.  Carnation. 

4.  Trillium. 

5.  Jack-in-the- 
pulpit. 


6.  Tulip. 

7.  Pansy. 

8.  Dandelion. 

9.  Violet. 

10.  Marsh  mari- 
gold. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  Which  are  wild  flowers? 


1.  Show  with  your  crayons  the  colors 
of  each  of  the  following  flowers : 

a.  rose.  f.  pansy. 

b.  arbutus.  g.  violet. 

c.  carnation.  h.  marsh  mari- 

d.  trillium.  gold. 

e.  tulip. 

2.  Seat  work  for  following  directions : 

a.  Draw  a purple  tulip  and  two  yel- 
low tulips. 

b.  Draw  a trillium. 

c.  Draw  three  red  carnations  in  a 
blue  vase. 

d.  Draw  a Jack-in-the-pulpit. 

e.  Draw  a dandelion. 

f.  Draw  a basket  of  pansies. 

3.  Draw  a big  pretty  flower  on  a long 
green  stem. 

a.  Make  some  leaves  on  the  stem. 

b.  Make  some  roots  on  the  stem. 

c.  Put  “b”  by  the  part  that  is  pret- 
tiest. 

d.  Put  “r”  by  the  part  that  gets 
food  for  the  plant. 

e.  Put  “s”  by  the  part  that  holds  up 
the  flower. 

f.  Put  “1”  by  the  part  that  takes  air 
to  the  plant. 

SELECTION  TEST 

Complete  the  following  sentences 
by  selecting  the  appropriate  word 
from  the  list  below: 

a.  A has  prickers  on 

its  stem. 

b.  A has  a little  face. 

c.  A has  three  white 

petals. 

d grows  under  the 

leaves.  (Turn  to  page  61 ) 


45 


For  Upper  Primary  and  Lower  Intermediate  Grades 


THOSE 

CUNNING 

FOXES 

\ 


The  Silver  or  Black  Fox  is  a handsome  animal.  He  is  black,  with  long 
silky  hairs,  many  of  them  delicately  ringed  with  silver  gray.  His  tail  is 
tipped  with  white. 

The  Gray  Fox  is  dull  gray,  flecked  here  and  there  with  black.  His  tail 
is  gray-white  on  the  sides,  rusty  below,  and  black  at  the  tip. 

The  Common  Red  Fox  is  beautiful.  He  is  tawny  red  with  yellow  lights 
in  his  fur  to  match  the  yellow  gleams  in  his  eyes.  The  underside  of  his 
body  and  the  lower  parts  of  his  back  are  grizzly  gray.  Along  the  under- 
side of  his  body  runs  a narrow  line  of  white.  His  throat  is  white.  The 
backs  of  his  stiff,  straight  ears,  his  keen  pointed  nose,  his  slender  legs, 
and  the  tips  of  the  hair  on  his  tail  are  black  and  glossy. 


The  fox  is  proud  of  his  tail.  It  is  a warm  golden- 
red  color,  light  and  feathery.  When  he  runs  it 
seems  to  float  above  him  like  a yellow  torch  shining 
against  the  white  snow.  But  sometimes  in  wet 
weather,  when  he  has  run  far  his  tail  becomes 
damp,  bedraggled  and  heavy  so  that  he  can 
scarcely  carry  it.  Then  he  takes  refuge  in  his  den. 
There  he  stays  until  his  tail  becomes  dry  and 
light  again. 

FOX  DENS 

In  the  spring  the  fox  goes  out  house-hunting. 
Sometimes  he  selects  a good  place,  burrows  deep 
into  the  earth,  and  makes  his  own  den.  But  some- 
times he  can  take  possession  of  a burrow  already 
made,  by  a rabbit  perhaps.  That  the  rabbit  has 


THE  RED  FOX 


American  Museum  of  Natural  History 


made  her  home  herself  and  is  living  there  in  peace 
and  quiet  makes  no  difference  to  the  fox.  All  that 
is  necessary  is  to  get  rid  of  the  rabbit  and  that  is 
not  difficult  for  a fox  to  do. 

Often  a fox  den  is  in  the  midst  of  an  open  field. 
This  may  be  so  that  the  wary  creatures  can  see 
on  all  sides,  and  spy  danger  far  off.  New  Eng- 
land foxes  usually  have  but  one  or  two  rooms  in 
their  homes.  These  rooms  are  dark  as  pockets. 
But  foxes  do  not  mind.  Their  eyes,  like  a cat’s, 
can  see  as  well  in  the  dark  as  in  the  light. 

Usually  a fox  family  has  more  than  one  den. 
If  they  find  that  one  is  being  watched,  they  move 
to  another  as  quickly  and  quietly  as  possible. 
Many  a boy  and  dog  have  run  up,  after  a long  hard 
chase,  to  the  mouth  of  a fox  den,  only  to  find  it 
empty. 

HOW  FOXES  LOOK 

Fox  cubs  look  like  round,  roly-poly,  yellow  gray 
bundles  of  woolly  fur.  Their  tails  are  so  short  and 
stiff  it  does  not  seem  possible  that  they  will  ever 
grow  to  be  soft  and  plumy. 

The  mother  fox  takes  good  care  of  her  babies. 
She  feeds  them  young  mice  and  rats.  They  grow 
larger  and  larger  until  some  bright  day  she  takes 
them  out-of-doors  to  play. 

The  little  foxes  have  pert,  pointed  faces,  sharp 
ears,  and  bright,  cunning  eyes  full  of  mischief. 
They  frolic  about  like  puppies,  chasing  their  tails 
and  pouncing  upon  each  other.  Often  they  make 
sudden  onslaughts  upon  their  dignified  mother. 
They  give  short  sharp  yelps  like  baby  puppies 
learning  to  bark.  Sometimes  they  find  a cricket 
hurrying  home  to  his  family  and  begin  to  worry 
him.  But  they  forget  him  when  a little  cub  finds 
a big,  lazy  June  bug  taking  a nap.  Sometimes 
they  just  sit  quietly  and  look  the  field  over  with 
their  bright,  round  eyes. 

If  there  is  a sound  ever  so  faint,  like  the  bark  of 
a dog,  the  mother  fox  springs  to  her  feet,  warns 
her  babies  and  away  they  scamper  into  their  den. 

It  is  said  that  when  a fox  has  a den  near  a 
farmhouse,  she  never  robs  the  hen-roosts  of  that 
farm.  Instead  she  may  go  a long  way  to  some 
distant  barn  for  a tempting  meal  to  bring  home  to 
her  babies.  While  her  cubs  are  small,  mother  fox 
will  not  risk  being  caught  near  her  home.  Both 
the  father  and  mother  fox  will  protect  their  young, 
even  to  losing  their  own  lives.  They  will  starve 
rather  than  take  food  away  from  their  children. 

FOOD  FOR  THE  FOXES 

Foxes  eat  all  sorts  of  animal  food.  Each  fox, 
when  old  enough,  hunts  by  himself.  He  steals 
out  cautiously  at  night  and  creeps  carefully  along, 
often  going  miles  in  search  of  the  food  he  wants. 
No  rabbit,  squirrel,  field  mouse,  rat  or  mole  is  safe 
when  a fox  is  abroad.  He  likes  fruit  too,  especially 
grapes.  (Refer  to  the  old  folk  story  of  “The  Fox 
and  the  Grapes.”) 

The  fox  does  not  like  to  wet  his  feet.  However, 
a fine  crab  sometimes  tempts  him  so  that  he  forgets 
his  dislike  of  water.  There  is  a story  of  a fox  who 
used  to  drag  his  bushy  tail  back  and  forth  lightly 
over  the  water.  When  a crab  put  up  a claw  and 
grabbed  the  tail,  the  fox  dragged  him  quickly  to 
land. 

When  a fox  finds  chickens  at  roost  in  a tree,  he 


46 


has  a strange  way  of  catching  them.  He  rims 
round  and  round  the  tree.  The  chickens  watch, 
lean  out  farther  to  see  what  it  is  all  about,  grow 
dizzy,  lose  their  balance  and  fall  to  the  ground. 
Then  the  fox  has  his  dinner  all  ready. 

FOX  TRAPS 

Since  foxes  are  such  thieves,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
farmers  do  all  they  can  to  catch  them. 

To  catch  a fox  in  a trap  one  has  to  have  the 
patience  and  skill  of  the  fox  himself.  The  trap 
must  not  be  placed  near  the  chicken  coop  for  a fox 
may  be  on  guard  there.  It  must  be  put  in  the 
woods  or  in  a field  where  the  fox  is  known  to  hunt. 

Several  days  before  the  trap  is  set  the  trapper 
coaxes  the  fox.  He  cuts  a place  in  the  frozen 
ground  and  digs  out  three  or  four  inches  of  earth. 
He  fills  this  place  with  ashes  or  dried  leaves  in 
which  are  mixed  bits  of  roasted  cheese.  For  awhile 
the  fox  won’t  touch  this  tempting  meal.  But  some 
cold  night,  he  pokes  among  the  ashes  and  has  a 
delicious  meal  of  cheese.  Nothing  happens,  so  he 
tries  it  again.  After  awhile,  the  trapper  hides  his 
trap  in  the  bed  of  ashes  and  cheese.  After  all  this 
trouble,  however,  the  chances  are  that  the  sly 
fox  will  take  a sniff  or  two,  shake  his  head  and  trot 
quietly  away. 

If  a fox  is  caught,  he  will  fool  the  trapper  if  he 
can.  Sometimes  he  plays  that  he  is  dead.  There 
he  lies,  one  foot  in  the  trap,  frozen  stiff.  The  dog 
comes  up  and  smells  of  him.  The  trapper  may 
poke  and  prod  him.  He  keeps  perfectly  still.  If 
the  trapper  leaves  him  for  a moment,  there  is  a 
dash,  a flash  of  a red-gold  tail  far  off  toward  the 
woods  and  the  fox  is  gone! 

THE  FOX  AND  THE  HUNTERS 

In  no  way  does  the  fox  show  his  cunning  more 
than  in  the  way  he  escapes  hunters.  On  a clear 
crisp  morning  the  hunters  turn  their  dogs  loose. 
Soon  they  may  be  on  the  track  of  a fox. 

About  a half-mile  ahead  of  them  runs  the  fox. 
He  is  so  fleet  of  foot,  so  light  of  heart,  so  full  of 
bounding  life  from  the  tip  of  his  pointed  nose  to 
the  end  of  his  beautiful  tail,  that  he  leads  the  dogs 
a rapid  chase.  Up  hill,  down  hill,  on  and  on  for 
miles  they  go  with  the  fox  eluding  them  at  every 
turn.  He  bounds  across  dry  stones  in  the  bed  of 
the  brook,  crosses  and  criss-crosses  the  field  until 
his  tracks  lead  in  and  out,  back  and  forth  over 
each  other.  Then  he  goes  with  long  strides  up  the 
hill,  and  mounts  a high  rock.  There  he  watches 
the  dogs  down  below  trying  to  unravel  the  puzzle 
of  his  footprints.  Far  off  the  fox  sees  the  hunter, 
coming  nearer  with  his  gun. 

The  fox  is  up  and  away  with  nervous,  nimble 
leaps  toward  the  woods.  He  crosses  a piece  of 
ploughed  ground,  if  possible.  Then  he  walks 
coolly  along  the  frozen  rut  of  the  high  road  where 
a sleigh  or  truck  may  have  passed.  He  knows  that 
no  scent  of  his  feet  will  stay  in  frozen  ground.  Or 
in  warm  weather  he  goes  through  a pasture  and 
walks  in  the  footprints  the  cows  have  left.  The 
dogs  have  hard  work  tracing  him  in  these  places. 
He  walks  carefully  in  these  tracks  for  awhile. 
Then  he  branches  off,  leaving  the  dogs  to  decide 
when  they  come  up  which  set  of  tracks  belong  to 
him.  Sometimes  he  is  caught  because  he  gets  tired 
out  at  last,  but  just  as  often  he  escapes. 


A STORY  ABOUT 

A CUNNING  FOX 

It  was  a cold,  moonlit  night  with  the  snow  lying  white  and 
smooth  over  the  ground.  Jimmy  walked  fast.  He  was 
whistling  to  show  himself  that  he  wasn’t  afraid.  Suddenly 
he  heard  a sharp,  short  bark.  It  didn’t  sound  like  a dog’s 
bark.  Jimmy  bent  his  head  to  listen.  There  in  the  light  snow, 
he  saw  a track.  He  saw  many  tracks,  small  and  sharp.  Jimmy 
stopped  whistling.  He  knew  they  were  fox  tracks. 

Jimmy  had  lived  all  his  life  in  a little  New  England  village. 
He  knew  that  to  see  a fox,  a boy  must  use  great  caution  and 
cunning.  So  Jimmy  crept  to  a clump  of  evergreens  some  dis- 
tance from  the  path.  He  sat  down  on  a rock  to  wait  and  listen. 
Wary  as  a fox  himself,  he  peered  through  the  dark  boughs. 
Then  he  drew  back  scarcely  believing  his  eyes.  He  looked 
again  and  caught  his  breath.  Then  he  sat  as  still  as  the  rock 
itself  to  watch. 

Just  beyond  the  evergreens  was  a cleared  space.  And  this 
is  what  Jimmy  saw.  One  —two — three — six  foxes!  They  were 
beautiful,  half-grown  creatures  with  tawny  tails  flashing  in 
the  moonlight.  It  was  plain  to  see  that  they  were  out  for  a 
grand  frolic.  They  dashed  round  and  round  after  their  bushy 
tails.  They  jumped  and  capered.  They  ran  into  each  other 
and  fought  play  battles  like  merry  school  boys.  They  raced 
and  chased  in  and  out  of  the  soft  yellow  light.  One  fox  was 
ruddy  red  color.  One  was  dark  with  thick,  soft  fur  which 
would  make  him  run  for  his  life  some  day. 

Suddenly  a thought  came  to  Jimmy.  He  had  heard  some- 
where that  if  one  gave  a short,  sharp  squeak  like  a wood- 
mouse  one  could  coax  a fox  to  come  close.  Now  there  wasn’t 
an  animal  anywhere  around  the  village  that  Jimmy  couldn’t 
mimic.  Often  his  mother  thought  she  heard  the  cat  mew  to 
come  in  and  opened  the  door  only  to  find  Jimmy  there.  All 
around  the  house  in  unlikely  places,  squirrels  chattered,  hens 
clucked,  and  turkeys  gobbled.  Crows  cawed  at  night.  Frogs 
chirped  shrilly  and  k erchugged  from  high  snow-banks.  Now 
the  time  had  come  when  Jimmy  could  use  his  talent  to  great 
advantage. 

He  shut  his  lips  tightly  and  drew  in  his  breath  sharply  and 
quickly.  “Squeak,  squeak,  squeak.”  Surely  that  was  a wood- 
mouse! 

The  fleetest  of  the  foxes  paused  in  his  play.  He  turned  his 
head,  listening. 

“Squeak,”  said  the  little  mouse  again  softly.  The  fox 
bounded  straight  toward  the  clump  of  evergreen  trees.  He 
paused.  Jimmy  waited.  After  a minute,  “Squeak,  squeak,” 
said  the  mouse  in  a voice  that  trembled  a little. 

A few  swift,  graceful  leaps,  and  the  fox  stood  face  to  face 
with  Jimmy. 

Jimmy  sat  very  still.  He  was  a little  frightened.  The  fox 
showed  no  surprise.  He  stood  still,  one  foot  lifted,  his  plumy 
tail  a graceful  curve  of  light  against  the  snow.  His  eyes  were 
fixed  on  Jimmy’s  face  a minute. 

Then  the  fox  slowly  turned  and  trotted  quietly  away  toward 
the  woods.  When  he  was  out  of  sight,  though,  a great  change 
took  place.  He  jumped  about  and  frolicked  and  capered 
merrily.  “I  fooled  that  boy,”  he  thought.  “I  was  frightened 
half  out  of  my  wits.  But  I didn’t  let  him  see  it.”  Then  the 
fox  thought  about  that  wood-mouse.  With  all  his  cunning, 
he  had  not  seen  through  Jimmy’s  trick.  He  resolved  that  the 
very  next  night  he  would  go  back  and  find  the  mouse. 

Jimmy  ran  home  as  fast  as  he  could  go.  “My!  Wasn’t  that 
fox  handsome?”  he  said  to  himself.  Then  he  barked  exactly 
like  a fox.  Farmer  Brown’s  turkeys  woke  and  tumbled  off 
their  perches.  They  flapped  their  wings  and  cried  so  loud 
that  the  farmer  came  out  with  his  gun  and  dog.  “I’ll  catch 
that  fox  this  time,”  he  said.  But  we  know  there  was  no  fox 
there  for  him  to  catch. 


47 


Animals  of  the  Arctic 

Material  for  your  Arctic  Unit 
JOHN  WATROUS 

For  Primary  and  Intermediate  Grades 


Whether  they  live  in  hot,  cold  or  temperate  climates, 
children  the  world  over  are  interested  and  fasci- 
nated by  all  that  pertains  to  the  Arctic  regions. 
Last  January  we  gave  you  studies  of  the  Eskimos.  This 
year  we  are  going  to  focus  our  attention  upon  a subject 
equally  attractive  to  children  of  all  ages,  the  study  of  the 
animals  of  the  Arctic,  such  as  the  whale,  reindeer,  bear, 
seal  and  walrus. 

MAKING  CHALK  DRAWINGS 

The  ijlustrations  on  this  page  are  reproductions  of  black- 
board drawings  which  may  be  used  as  borders,  January 
calendar  designs,  and  the  like. 

Children  always  feel  it  is  a special  privilege  to  be  al- 
lowed to  work  with  chalk  at  the  blackboard  so  why  not 
let  them  try  these  and  similar  designs?  The  nature  of 
Arctic  scenery  makes  it  particularly  easy  and  appropriate 
for  blackboard  work. 

Those  who  are  not  especially  talented  in  free  hand 
drawing  will  find  the  outline  for  drawing  with  the  squares 
helpful.  If  this  method  is  used,  the  size  of  the  space  to 
be  used  must  first  be  determined  and  then  the  lines  drawn 
to  make  the  squares.  Be  sure  that  these  lines  are  very 
faint  so  they  can  be  easily  erased  without  smudging  the 
drawing.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that  many  in  your  group 
may  be  able  to  do  attractive  freehand  chalk  drawings  of 
these  animals  and  their  homes.  The  illustrations  on  these 
pages  may  also  be  helpful  to  the  teacher  herself  in  her 
blackboard  work. 

The  aurora  borealis  may  be  done  in  colors  and  a slight 


blue  tinge  given  to  the  icebergs  if  desired,  though  the 
scenes  are  very  striking  if  carried  out  just  in  the  black 
and  white. 

THE  ARCTIC  ANIMALS 

The  study  may  begin  with  the  whale  which  is  one  of  the 
most  extraordinary  animals  iD  the  world.  The  children 
may  be  surprised  to  learn  that  the  whale  is  not  a fish,  for 
although  he  lives  in  the  water,  he  breathes  with  lungs  and 
not  gills. 

Whales  are  among  the  largest  animals  in  the  world, 
some  of  them  being  about  seventy  feet  long  and  twenty 
feet  wide.  A whale  must  come  up  out  of  the  water  to 
breathe.  He  can  be  easily  located  by  fishermen  and 
whaling  fleets  by  the  long  stream  of  water  which  he  throws 
up  when  he  comes  to  the  surface  to  breathe.  Unlike  fish, 
the  head  of  the  whale  is  very  large,  being  at  least  one- 
third  of  the  whole  body.  The  tail  extends  horizontally 
instead  of  vertically  as  in  fishes.  It  is  of  great  use  in 
swimming.  Under  the  skin  of  the  fore  limbs  are  bones 
and  joints  corresponding  to  the  bones  and  joints  of  the 
human  hand  and  arm. 

The  eye  of  the  whale  is  small  and  set  far  back  in  thei 
head.  The  mouth  is  very  large,  sometimes  15  feet  long 
and  9 feet  high  inside.  It  is  provided  with  plates  of  whale- 
bone, which  strain  out  the  water  and  leave  the  small  fish 
on  which  the  whale  feeds.  The  nostrils  are  at  the  top  of 
the  whale’s  head.  They  are  used  for  breathing  and  for 
throwing  out  water.  Whales  travel  quickly  through  the 
water  at  the  rate  of  six  miles  an  hour,  flapping  the  water 


48 


with  their  large  tails,  making  a noise  heard  for  miles. 

The  principal  method  of  capturing  whales  is  by  the 
harpoon  gun.  A harpoon  consists  of  a long  shank,  with  a 
broad,  flat  head,  triangular  shaped,  sharpened  at  both 
edges,  so  as  to  more  easily  penetrate  the  body  of  the  whale. 
Generally  two  or  three  boats  join  in  capturing  a whale. 
When  the  whale  feels  the  pain  of  the  harpoon,  he  swims 
away  at  a rapid  rate  under  the  water.  After  a time,  he 
must  come  up  to  breathe.  Then  another  harpoon  is 
thrown  at  him.  The  whale  has  great  endurance  and  puts 
up  a long,  brave  fight.  He  succumbs  finally  to  the  pain 
of  the  harpoon  and  his  great  body  is  dragged  away  by 
the  ships. 

A single  whale  will  sometimes  yield  eighty-five  barrels 
of  oil  and  a ton  of  spermaceti.  They  are.  found  in  largest 
numbers  along  the  western  coast  of  Greenland  and  in 
Behring  Strait.  They  have  grown  scarce  and  the  business 


of  catching  them  has  decreased  since  the  use  of  petroleum 
for  lighting  purposes. 

THE  REINDEER 

The  reindeer  has  been  called  the  Eskimo’s  good  friend 
because  it  provides  him  with  milk,  flesh,  and  means  of 
transportation.  Children  in  temperate  zones  usually 
know  little  about  the  reindeer  except  the  story  of  the  eight 
who  are  supposed  to  carry  St.  Nicholas  around  the  world 
on  Christmas  Eve. 

The  reindeer  is  found  in  Europe,  Asia,  Spitsbergen,  and 
in  Greenland.  It  is  not  as  graceful  as  other  species  of 
deer.  It  is  from  four  to  six  feet  in  height,  with  short 
limbs  and  neck  carried  almost  straight  forward.  It  has 
two  toes  on  each  foot,  which  are  placed  on  the  snow, 
besides  an  extra  pair  higher  and  behind  the  others  to  keep 
it  from  sinking  deeply  into  the  snow.  ( Turn  to  page  58) 


49 


ADAPTABLE  TO  ALL  GRADES 


PHOTOGRAPHS  BY  KEYSTONE 


INTRODUCTION  — There  are  many  avenues  of  ap- 
proach for  a unit  on  seals,  especially  now  when  there  is 
great  interest  in  Alaska,  Greenland,  and  the  surround- 
ing oceans. 

This  unit  may  be  used  in  all  grades,  the  teacher  select- 
ing activities  and  material  within  the  comprehension  of 
her  pupils. 

In  the  primary  grades,  the  family  group  is  stressed, 
through  the  use  of  stories  poems,  trips  to  museums,  circus 

or  zoo.  In  the  middle  or  upper  grades,  present  conditions 
as  brought  out  in  the  Social  Studies  class  may  arouse 
interest.  There  is  excellent  opportunity  for  dramatizations 
and  story  writing. 


OBJECTIVES 

1.  To  acquaint  pupils  with  the  seal  fishing  industry. 

2.  To  create  interest  in  lives  of  men  who  catch  seals. 

3.  To  teach  the  life  and  commercial  value  of  seals. 

4.  To  develop  knowledge  of  effect  of  these  last  wars  upon 
the  seal  industry. 

5.  To  acquaint  pupils  with  the  code  of  ethics  of  these 
seamen. 

APPROACH 

The  study  of  seal  fishing  may  be  stimulated  by: 

1.  Stories  of  seals,  anecdotes  in  the  lives  of  fishermen,  etc. 

2.  Study  of  Newfoundland,  Greenland,  and  Alaska. 

3.  War — relations  between  United  States,  Great  Britain, 
Russia,  Japan.  Refer  to  Treaty  of  1911  between  these 
nations.  What  is  its  status  now?  (Write  Department 
of  Interior.  Washington,  D.C.,  for  information.) 


OUTLINE  OF  STUDY 

Furbearing  Seals 

These  seals  are  located  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.  Ninety 
percent  of  all  furbearing  seals  live  here  in  rookeries,  from 
June  to  October.  During  the  winter  they  live  upon  fish 
in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  yet  they  always  manage  to  find  the 
right  route  back  to  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

The  male  seal,  or  bull,  comes  first  and  fights  for  a certain 
stretch  of  rocks.  Then  the  female,  or  cow  seal,  arrives 
and  is  selected  by  the  male  to  form  his  family.  Some  male 
seals  have  as  many  as  fifty  cows  in  a family  depending 
upon  his  ability  to  fight  Then  come  the  bachelors,  or 
three  year  old  males,  who  are  not  allowed  to  have  a family 
because  they  are  not  strong  enough  to  fight  for  one.  These 
seals  have  the  best  pelts  because  they  have  not  been  fight- 
ing and  have  not  had  cuts  and  tears  to  ruin  the  skin. 

Here  on  land  the  cow  seal  has  one  baby,  or  pup  seal, 
which  she  feeds  with  milk.  Although  she  may  leave  her 
baby  when  she  swims  miles  away  in  search  of  fish  for  food, 
she  always  finds  her  own  little  seal  when  she  returns,  even 
though  they  all  seem  to  look  alike. 

All  summer  long,  the  bull  seal  does  not  eat  or  drink. 
He  just  guards  his  family.  Toward  the  end  of  the  season, 
he  sleeps  for  a week  and  eats  until  he  is  strong  again.  A 
bull  seal  weighs  on  the  average  of  500  pounds  and  the  cow 
seal  about  100.  Except  for  the  male,  seals  are  easily  caught. 
The  bachelors  are  driven  in  herds  a few  miles  away  where 
they  are  killed  and  skinned.  In  1880  there  were  millions  of 
these  seals  but  there  was  so  much  slaughtering  and  pelagic 
sealing  (which  is  killing  on  the  high  seas)  that  the  number 
decreased  to  100,000  in  1910.  In  1911  the  United  States, 
Great  Britain,  Russia  and  Japan  signed  a treaty  which 
made  pelagic  sealing  unlawful.  Since  then  the  seals  have 
increased  at  a tremendous  rate.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
United  States  takes  over  30,000  skins  a year. 


50 


BABY  SEAL  ON  ENGLISH  COAST 


"SANDY  SEAL"  PLAYS  BASKETBALL 


THIS  HANDSOME  SEAL  SITS  FOR  HIS  PICTURE 


HARP  AND  HOOD  SEALS 

The  law  is  off  these  seals  March  14-May  1. 

They  live  in  Baffin  Bay,  west  of  Greenland. 

In  autumn  they  move  south  to  spend  the 
winter  at  Grand  Banks.  In  spring,  they  turn 
north.  At  about  the  end  of  February  the 
young  are  born.  These  seals  furnish  leather, 
oil,  soap,  medicine  and  perfume. 

The  Harp  Seals  are  mostly  white.  The 
young  are  called  whitecoats  and  weigh  about 
seven  pounds  at  birth.  They  are  born  on  the 
ice  which  is  called  whelping  ice  (thin  ice). 

The  male  and  female  make  no  attempt  to  de- 
fend the  pups.  The  young  ones  make  a queer 
noise  like  a combination  of  the  bleating  of  a 
lamb  and  barking  of  a puppy.  Seal  hunters 
kill  them  by  hitting  them  on  the  head  with  a bat.  They 
are  skinned  on  the  spot,  and  the  sculp,  or  hide,  is  placed 
on  a rope,  or  ratline,  and  dragged  to  a marker  (flag).  The 
ship  stops  at  these  flags  to  pick  up  the  sculps. 

The  Hood  or  Saddle  Seal  has  greyblue  markings  on  his 
back.  He  has  a queer  hood  on  his  head  which  inflates 
when  he  is  angered.  Only  the  male  has  this  hood.  The 
Hood  Seal  will  fight  for  his  family  and  it  is  difficult  to  kill 
him  because  of  his  hood.  These  seals  prefer  the  heavier 
ice  and  their  young  are  born  on  this  ice.  These  seal-pups 
make  no  noise  and  are  harder  to  locate. 

Ships  sail  from  St.  John’s,  Newfoundland,  on  seal  hunt- 
ing expeditions.  Many  steel  ships  are  used  instead  of  the 
wooden  ones.  Today  a plane  is  used  to  locate  the  seals. 
Years  ago,  ships  had  to  sail  many  miles  before  locating 
seals. 

The  ship’s  supplies  usually  consist  of  about  eighty 
barrels  of  potatoes,  eighty  barrels  of  flour,  one  hundred 
quintals  dried  codfish,  thirty-five  barrels  of  pork,  tea, 
butter,  biscuits,  turnips,  beans,  etc. 


VOCABULARY 

dunnage  bag — bag  containing  clothes 
nunny  sack — bag  containing  lunch 

crop — money  advanced  before  sailing  (about  nine  dol- 
lars) reDaid  plus  $3 

oilskins — waterproof  clothes 
quintal — 112  pounds 
whitecoats — young  harps 

steel  gaff — stout  shank  divided  into  2 parts,  1 straight 


point  and  the  other  curving  out  into  a nook 
bat — sticks  of  mountain  ash,  placed  together  with  gaff 
to  form  weapon 
sculp — seal  hide 
pan — ice  sheet 

brewis — boiled  bread  and  codfish  with  pork  gravy 
duff — flour,  water,  shortening,  currants,  molasses; 
stirred,  then  packed  in  bags  and  boiled 
pinnacle  ice — ice  from  which  salt  has  drained,  used  as 
drinking  water 

copy — skip  lightly  across  small  places  of  ice 
nogg-head — motherless  seal 

chisels — nails  on  boots  to  prevent  slipping  on  ice 
Costume  of  Seal  Hunters. — Canvas  jumpers  over 
sweaters,  breeches  of  moleskin  or  homespun;  several  red 
or  white  flannel  shirts,  homeknit  underwear,  sealskin  cap 
and  goggles. 


1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 
9. 

10. 


ACTIVITIES 
Reading  for  information. 

Giving  oral  reports  on  materials  read. 

Making  maps  showing  location  of  seal  rookeries. 
Making  illustrations  of  types  of  seals  and  their  homes. 
Making  graphs,  illustrating  decrease  and  increase  of 
seal  population. 

Painting  costumes  of  fishermen. 

Making  equipment  necessary  to  catch  seals. 

Keeping  an  imaginary  ship’s  diary. 

Learning  to  cook  samples  of  brewis  and  duff. 
Comparing  steel  ships  with  wooden  (Turn  to  page  62) 

mSSiR  of 


FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES 


TlrSi  ZOO 

'*■'  How 
We  Planned 
Our  Unit 

EVELYN  THURBER 


OBJECTIVES 

a.  To  study  maintenance  of  a zoo. 

b.  To  gain  more  knowledge  about 
animals  in  the  zoo. 

c.  To  teach  the  value  of  zoos. 

d.  To  develop  better  community 
spirit  through  a better  concep- 
tion of  our  Park  Department. 

e.  To  increase  interest  in  animals. 

f.  To  inculcate  habits  of  courtesy. 

g.  To  teach  child  to  express  him- 
self in  writing  stories  and 
poetry. 

h.  To  increase  his  vocabulary  through  dramatization  and 
story  writing. 

i.  To  develop  ability  to  originate,  plan  and  initiate  ideas. 

APPROACH 

During  a conversation  lesson,  a pupil  told  of  seeing  four 
new  lion  cubs  in  Prospect  Park  Zoo.  The  children  were 
all  interested  and  the  suggestion  made  that  we  go  to  see 
it.  Letters  were  written  to  parents  asking  permission  to 
go  on  this  excursion.  It  was  necessary  to  go  by  train.  This 
led  to  discussion  of  the  route  to  be  taken.  Each  pupil 
brought  ten  cents  carfare.  The  money  was  counted  by 
the  class  and  amount  put  on  the  blackboard.  This  was  an 
excellent  opportunity  to  teach  “dollars  and  cents.” 

Before  going  on  our  trip,  we  discussed  rules  of  conduct 
on  the  train  and  at  the  zoo.  Necess’ty  of  courtesy  to  those 
in  charge  and  to  classmates  was  emphasized. 

The  trip  to  the  zoo  was  quite  a success.  We  arrived  in 
time  to  see  the  animals  being  fed  by  the  keepers.  This 
was  especially  interesting  to  watch. 


When  we  returned  the  children  were  full  of  stories  and 
things  to  tell.  This  was  an  opportune  time  to  suggest 
making  our  own  zoo.  The  children  were  overjoyed  at  the 
idea  and  started  the  activity  with  enthusiasm. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  UNIT 

1.  Class  Discussion. — Children  discussed  the  classroom 
zoo.  A list  of  suggestions  was  written  on  the  blackboard 
as  they  occurred  to  the  children. 

2.  Organization  of  Committees. — I explained  what  a 
committee  and  its  duties  are.  We  listed  committees  nec- 
essary to  carry  on  the  work.  A chairman  was  selected  by 
me  for  each  committee. 

3.  Activities. 

a.  Making  the  Cages.  Due  to  lack  of  space  in  our  room, 
it  was  decided  to  make  cages  out  of  construction  paper  and 
tack  them  on  the  walls.  The  children  drew  the  cage  fronts 
on  grey  construction  paper.  This  involved  use  of  ruler 
and  inch  measurements.  They  cut  away  spaces  between 
the  bars  with  scissors.  These  cage  fronts  were  then 


52 


It’s  fun  to  visit  at  the  200 
To  see  the  tricks  the  seals  can'  do, 

1 hear  them  when  we  reach  the  park 
For  they  have  such  a deep,  loud  hark* 
And  when  the  keeper  throws  them  fish 
They  make  the  water  splash  and  swish* 
I*m  sure  that  I could  swim  and  float 
' If  I had  such  a slickery  coat* 

— Violet  Thomas  Hartmann 


pasted  by  their  four  edges  on  a black  background.  The 
cages  varied  in  size  according  to  the  animals  for  whose 
use  they  were  intended.  During  the  making  of  the  cages, 
the  children  learned  about  the  construction  and  mainte- 
nance of  real  cages  they  had  seen  in  Prospect  Park  Zoo. 
Before  making  the  cages,  they  had  decided  what  animals 
they  were  going  to  have  in  their  zoo. 

b.  The  Animals.  The  children  drew  some  of  the  animals 
and  cut  out  pictures  from  magazines  of  the  more  difficult 
ones,  so  as  to  have  a large  enough  variety  of  animals  in 
the  zoo.  When  the  animals  were  ready,  they  were  inserted 
through  and  behind  the  bars  and  pasted  there. 

c.  Making  the  Signs.  Signs  were  made  indicating  the 
occupants  of  the  various  cages.  “Do  not  feed  the  Animals,” 
“Do  not  annoy  the  Animals,”  “To  the  Lion  House,”  “To 
the  Polar  Bears”  were  some  of  the  signs  made. 

d.  Making  the  Food  Chart.  The  committee  listed  all  the 
foods  needed  for  animals  of  their  zoo.  They  secured  in- 
formation from  books  in  the  “Zoo  Library.”  When  this 
was  completed,  two  of  the  children  printed  the  informa- 
tion on  a chart. 

e.  Making  Booklets.  Ten  children  chose  this  committee 
to  work  on.  A different  animal  was  studied  each  day  by 
the  entire  class.  The  children  learned  about  the  size, 
shape,  appearance  and  habits  of  the  various  animals. 
Children  on  the  booklet  committee  then  wrote  stories 
about  the  animals  and  pasted  them  in  their  booklets.  The 
completed  booklets  contained  compositions  of  all  the  ani- 
mals in  the  zoo.  These  booklets  were  to  be  given  to  the 
visitors  of  the  zoo.  The  following  story  is  typical: 

The  Polar  Bear 

The  polar  bear  is  taller  than  other  bears.  He  is 
covered  with  thick  white  fur.  He  has  a sharp 
pointed  head  with  a jet  black  nose.  His  sides  are 

VIOLET  THOMAS  HARTMANN 


flat.  He  likes  to  eat  meat  and  fish.  We  call  our 
polar  bear  “Snowball.”  He  likes  to  go  swimming 
in  the  cold  water. 

f.  Covering  the  Booklets.  Three  boys  made  all  the 
covers  for  the  booklets.  Each  cover  was  decorated  with 
an  appropriate  animal  picture  and  the  printed  words, 
“The  Zoo.” 

g.  Making  Posters.  Several  children  made  posters  about 
the  zoo.  These  announced  the  opening  of  the  zoo  and 
were  displayed  in  the  class  room  and  outside  corridor. 

h.  Zoo  News.  A bulletin  board  was  constructed  and  an 
envelope  for  “Zoo  News”  contributions  tacked  on  the  wall. 
The  children  wrote  riddles  and  stories  and  brought  in 
pictures  and  newspaper  clippings  pertinent  to  zoos.  These 
were  deposited  in  the  envelope  on  the  wall.  A child  was 
selected  to  edit  the  above  contributions.  She  also  recorded 
the  progress  of  the  different  committees  from  day  to  day 
and  posted  this  on  the  bulletin  board. 

i.  Making  Hats.  It  was  decided  to  make  hats  for  the 
keepers.  They  were  made  of  green  construction  paper — 
a round  band  for  the  head  with  a visor  fastened  in  front. 
“Keeper”  was  printed  on  the  front  of  the  caps.  During 
the  course  of  the  activity  several  repairs  were  necessary, 
so  a hat  was  made  for  the  repairman. 

3.  Information  Booth.  While  the  children  were  making 
the  booklets,  the  question  arose  as  to  where  they  should 
be  displayed  and  distributed  in  the  zoo.  A suggestion  was 
made  to  build  a stand  or  booth.  The  children  used  three 
orange  crates  to  build  the  booth.  It  was  finished  with 
aluminum  paint  and  an  awning  with  the  word  “Informa- 
tion” tacked  to  the  top.  This  was  made  out  of  yellow  con- 
struction paper.  A chair  was  made  out  of  another  orange 
crate  and  placed  behind  the  booth.  A child  attendant  was 
selected  to  answer  questions  and  show  booklets  to  visitors. 

k.  Zoo  Dictionaries.  The  entire  class  made  lists  of  new 
words  that  came  up  in  the  development  of  the  activity. 
These  lists  were  referred  to  in  writing  stories  for  the 
booklets  and  contributions  for  “Zoo  News.” 

l.  Zoo  Library.  Stories  of  animals  and  references  were 
in  the  library  books  in  the  room.  The  children  were 
allowed  to  read  these  books  when  they  finished  tasks  or 
to  refer  to  them  for  information. 

m.  Feeding  Time  Clock.  A sign  “Feeding  Time”  was 
made  and  tacked  across  the  top  of  a clock  dial.  One  of  the 
keepers  was  assigned  to  set  the  clock  and  indicate  the  next 
feeding  time.  The  children  learned  to  tell  time  through 
the  use  of  this  indicator. 

n.  Naming  the  Animals.  One  day  a child  told  of  a story 
he  had  read  about  a zoo.  The  animals  had  pet  names 
given  to  them  by  the  keepers.  The  suggestion  was  made 
that  we  christen  our  animals.  This  met  with  a delightful 

response.  The  class 
voted  on  names  sug- 
gested by  the  children. 
In  each  case,  the  most 
appropriate  name  was 
the  choice,  such  as: 

Elephants  — Jumbo 
and  Samson 

Polar  Bear — Snowball 
Zebras  — Blazer  and 
Peppermint 
Tiger — Ginger 
Giraffes — H i g h Boy 
and  Dot 

Brown  Bears — Teddy 
and  Browny 

Leopard — Spotty 
Lion — Leo. 

o.  The  Peanut  Stand. 
The  children  had  pur- 
chased peanuts  when 
they  (Turn  to  page  63) 


53 


FOR  ALL  GRADES 


A Science  Shelf 

for  Your  Classroom 


A science  shelf  on  which  children  place  cocoons,  fossils, 
tadpoles,  and  other  treasured  “finds”  fills  an  impor- 
tant need  of  children  in  almost  any  classroom. 
Teachers  are  finding  such  a shelf  a means  of  teaching  not 
only  science  but  also  of  promoting  learning  in  other  fields 
as  well. 

A broad  shelf  or  small  table,  available  in  most  schools, 
provides  sufficient  space  for  science  materials  usually  on 
hand  at  one  time.  This  shelf  is  a special  place  where 
science  articles  are  safe  and  where  they  may  be  shared 
with  classroom  friends.  It  is  an  interesting  place  to  spend 
odd  moments  before  school  or  during  the  day. 

If  a science  shelf  is  started  early  in  the  school  year 
and  continued  until  the  last  spring  wild  flower  finds  a 
place  on  it,  the  shelf  is  an  almost  constant  source  of 
interest. 

Although  it  starts  as  a convenient  place  on  which  to 
deposit  a variety  of  science  objects  found  at  home,  on  the 
way  to  school,  or  on  the  playground,  it  grows,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  teacher,  to  be  a center  of  learning  from 
which  many  valuable  educational  outgrowths  develop. 

First  of  all,  of  course,  is  learning  in  the  field  of  science. 
Children  learn  many  new  science  facts,  develop  science 
interests  and  scientific  attitudes  as  they  observe  and  work 
with  the  objects  on  the  shelf.  Occasionally  an  interest 
leads  to  a science  unit. 

Another  important  outgrowth  is  that  of  reference  read- 
ing which  results  from  the  children’s  curiosity  about 
objects  on  the  shelf.  Most  children  are  not  content  with 
merely  looking  at  these  objects.  They  demand  answers 
to  questions  about  them,  such  as,  “What  is  it?”,  “Where 
did  it  come  from?”,  and  so  on. 

Of  course,  the  best  answers  to  these  queries  are  usually 
found  in  science  reference  books.  So,  if  a few  single 
copies  of  well  selected  science  references  are  placed  on  or 
near  the  shelf,  the  children  will  read  widely  in  many 
sources  to  find  satisfying  answers  to  their  questions.  This 
increases  the  amount  of  purposeful  reading  they  do  and 
also  affords  practice  in  the  use  of  the  index,  table  of  con- 
tents, reading  graphs  and  other  reference  reading  skills. 

MATERIAL 

If  the  books  are  of  varying  reading  difficulty,  they  pro- 
vide for  the  wide  range  of  reading  ability  usually  found 
among  any  group  of  children — easy  material  for  the  poor- 
est readers  and  difficult  material  to  challenge  the  best. 
Copies  of  Nature  Magazine  and  National  Geographic  in- 
crease the  range  of  reading  difficulty  and  enrich  the  in- 
formation available  in  the  usual  science  references. 

A small  bulletin  board  placed  back  of  the  shelf  provides 
a space  for  pictures,  newspaper  clippings,  and  diagrams 
related  to  objects  on  the  shelf. 

A small  hand  lens  is  a valuable  piece  of  equipment  for 
a science  shelf.  With  it  children  “see  the  unseen.”  It 
magnifies  the  marvels  of  nature  too  minute  to  be  seen 
clearly  or  in  their  full  beauty  with  the  naked  eye.  The 
contents  of  a mud  wasp’s  nest,  the  barbs  on  a porcupine’s 
quill,  the  eye  of  a bee  are  but  a few  of  the  unseen  wonders 
revealed  by  a hand  lens.  The  science  department  will 


BY  IDA  K.  BRINK 

sometimes  loan  a microscope  for  the  still  more  invisible 
in  science. 

Other  important  outgrowths  lie  in  the  values  resulting 
from  the  expression  of  ideas  either  during  free  time  in- 
formal conversation  around  the  shelf  or  in  organized 
science  or  conversation  periods  when  children  pool  in- 
formation discovered  in  examining  the  objects  or  in  read- 
ing about  them.  Critical  thinking,  use  of  correct  English, 
crips- to -the- point  expression  of  ideas  are  all  practiced 
when  children  talk  science.  It  is  a stimulating  experience. 

The  science  shelf  also  arouses  definite  needs  for  making 
use  of  the  manual  arts  for  living  things,  as  tadpoles, 
insects,  pets  must  be  taken  care  of.  This  calls  for  con- 
struction of  aquaria,  terraria,  screened  cages  and  similar 
structures.  Such  building  requires  planning  and  measur- 
ing to  conserve  materials  and  to  get  satisfactory  results. 
It  requires  building  structures  in  which  it  is  possible  to 
duplicate  closely  the  natural  habitats  of  the  various  living 
things  that  occupy  each  structure.  Mounting  boards  are 
needed  for  moths  that  emerge  from  cocoons.  Glass 
covered  cases  are  required  for  collections.  These  are 
challenging  problems  that  keep  children  alert  and  oc- 
cupied at  worth-while  jobs. 

A science  shelf  may  also  arouse  leisure  time  hobbies, 
such  as  collecting  fossils,  mounting  butterflies,  pressing 
specimens  of  wild  flowers,  making  leaf  prints. 

ARRANGEMENT 

There  is  one  problem  that  frequently  arises  with  a 
science  shelf,  i.e.,  how  to  so  arrange  the  objects  to  keep 
the  shelf  always  orderly  and  attractive.  Too  many  things 
give  a cluttered  appearance,  too  few  make  it  barren  and 
uninteresting.  A class  discussion  of  how  to  organize  ma- 
terial brought  in  from  time  to  time  will  result  in  a work- 
able plan,  such  as  the  following  evolved  by  one  group  of 
children. 

1.  Form  committees  to  keep  the  shelf  dusted  and  in 
order. 

2.  Group  like  objects  together  on  mats  of  9x12  colored 
paper,  as  all  clam  shells  on  one,  all  wasp  nests  on  another. 

3.  Label  each  object  with  a small  neat  card  bearing  the 
object’s  name  and  the  name  of  the  child  who  brought 
it  in. 

4.  Make  space  for  new  things  by  removing  old  ones 
when  no  longer  of  particular  interest. 

5.  Make  exhibits  of  things  removed  by  placing  them  in 
a hall  showcase  or  science  room  where  children  of  other 
rooms  may  see  them. 

Following  such  a plan  results  in  another  important  edu- 
cational outgrowth,  i.e.,  practice  in  keeping  materials  so 
organized  to  make  them  usable  and  attractive. 

So,  if  the  science  shelf  is  conducted  as  a learning  center, 
it  becomes  not  merely  a place  where  objects  are  left  and 
soon  forgotten.  It  develops  into  a classroom  opportunity 
for  enlarging  children’s  knowledge  of  the  outdoor  world, 
for  utilizing  reading,  language,  and  manual  skills  with 
definite  worth-while  purposes,  and  for  directing  children’s 
curiosity  toward  enriched,  educative  channels. 


54 


Nature  Study  Club 

( Continued,  from  page  6) 

bles  must  be  planted  and  must  grow  to 
maturity.  (2)  Five  kinds  of  flowers 
must  be  planted  and  must  grow  until 
they  blossom.  (3)  A tree  must  be  set 
out  either  in  April  or  in  October  and 
must  grow  until  it  puts  forth  leaves. 
(4)  A bird  house  must  be  made  and 
kept  up  at  least  a month.  (5)  Five  new 
butterflies  or  other  insects  must  be 
mounted  and  labeled. 

During  the  fall  and  winter  months, 
instead  of  (1)  members  may  start  a 
little  nursery  of  five  seedlings,  or  may 
present  five  kinds  of  wood  with  their 
bark,  each  correctly  labeled.  Instead  of 
(2)  five  potted  pi  tints  may  be  started 
and  cared  for  at  least  a month. 

Purple  ribbon  members  receive  a 
package  of  colored  bird  pictures. 

For  an  orange  ribbon,  the  child  is  re- 
quired: (1)  To  have  some  part  in  put- 
ting up  or  caring  for  a bird  bath.  (2) 
To  see  that  a feeding  trough  for  birds  is 
put  up,  preferably  one  made  by  the 
member  himself.  (3)  To  pull  at  least 
five  hundred  rag  weeds  to  help  prevent 
hay  fever.  (4)  To  submit  a list  of  twen- 
ty-five additional  names  of  living  things 
which  the  candidate  has  seen. 


Ants 

(Continued  from  page  12) 

(7)  The  ants  build  barns  for  their 
cows. 

(8)  Ants  cross  feelers  when  they 
meet. 

(9)  Ants  have  six  legs. 

(10)  Ants  never  work. 

Key  for  scoring 

X — Yes;  O = No. 

1. X  6.  O 

2.  O 7.  X 

3.  O 8.  X 

4.  X 9.  X 

5.  X 10.  O 


SECOND  GRADE  NEWSPAPER 

The  following  sentences  were  dictated 
by  our  pupils  during  their  study  of  ants. 

There  are  five  thousand  different 
kinds  of  ants. 

The  Queen  ant  takes  care  of  the  eggs. 

When  the  ants  have  battles,  the  ant 
nurses  try  to  save  the  babies. 

The  male  ant  has  the  best  eyes. 

The  workers  have  the  poorest  eyes. 
Some  workers  are  blind. 

The  ant's  head  may  be  round,  tri- 
angular, square,  heart-  or  pear-shaped. 

Ants  use  their  tongues  just  as  cats  do. 

Ants  live  for  ten  or  fifteen  years. 

Ants  eat  seeds  and  grains  of  wheat. 

Some  ants  form  ladders,  or  bridges, 
so  that  others  can  cross  rivers. 

Ants  tunnel  under  railroad  tracks. 

The  mother  feeds  the  baby  ants  with 
a juice  she  has  in  her  mouth. 

Ants  have  a secret  passage  leading 
out  of  their  homes. 


Turning  White 

( Continued  from  page  44) 

their  coat  twice  a year,  acquiring  a 
thicker  fur  in  winter  and  a thinner  one 
in  summer  and,  in  the  varying  hare,  the 
winter  coat  is  white  while  the  summer 
one  is  brown.  The  individual  hairs  never 
alter  their  color  from  the  time  they 
appear  until  they  fall  out.  The  change 
from  brown  to  white  occurs  in  the  au- 
tumn and  for  a short  time  the  animal  is 
somewhat  ‘mottled.’  Then,  in  March,  as 
the  weather  gets  warmer  and  the  snow 
gradually  disappears  from  the  woods, 
the  fur  of  the  northern  hare,  probably 
by  reason  of  the  wearing  away  of  the 
tips  and  the  shedding  of  the  long  hairs, 
gets  more  and  more  mottled  with  brown. 
The  change,  in  most  cases  that  have 
come  under  my  notice,  commences  at 
the  back  of  the  neck,  on  the  feet,  and 
the  under  surface  of  the  body  and,  in 
an  astonishingly  short  time,  the  dark 
summer  coat  is  fairly  resumed.  Al- 
though belated  snowstorms  must  often 
give  them  occasion  to  regret  the  loss  of 
their  winter  coats,  taking  one  year  and 
another,  the  change  seems  to  be  won- 
derfully well  timed,  and  at  most  they  are 
really  no  worse  off  than  those  other  in- 
habitants of  the  woods  that  wear  their 
dark  coats  throughout  the  winter.” 

Animal  Life 
Worksheets 

( Continued  from  page  31) 

4.  A puppy  is  whose  name? 

5.  What  is  the  name  of  a baby  chick- 
en? 

6.  What  is  a sheep’s  baby  called? 

7.  What  is  a baby  pig  called? 

8.  What  is  a mare’s  baby  called? 

9.  What  is  a baby  duck  called? 

10.  A gosling  is  whose  baby? 

11.  What  is  a baby  deer  called? 

12.  Whose  baby  is  a kid? 

13.  What  is  a baby  bear  called? 

14.  What  is  a seal’s  baby  called? 

15.  What  is  a wolf’s  baby  called? 

16.  What  is  a reindeer’s  baby  called? 


KEY 


1.  poult 

9.  ducklinj 

2.  cow 

10.  goose 

3.  kitten 

11.  fawn 

4.  dog 

12.  goat 

5.  chick 

13.  cub 

6.  lamb 

14.  puppy 

7.  piglet 

15.  cub 

8.  colt 

16.  calf 

1 Heard  a 

Bluebird 

Out  in  our  leafless  apple  tree 
I heard  a bluebird  sing, 

To  say  that  winter’s  past  and  fnne, 
The  world  belongs  to  spring, 

While  March  winds  blow  and  from 
the  sky 

Fall  flakes  of  drifting  snow, 

I know  that  Spring  is  near, 

The  first  bluebird  tells  me  so. 

— Laura  Emily  Mau 


Frogs 

( Continued  from  page  18) 

nearest  shore.  He  usually  selects  a dry 
spot  on  or  near  the  bank  on  which  to 
sun  himself  and  from  which,  if  dis- 
turbed, he  can  jump  into  the  water.  His 
memory,  however,  seems  to  be  a short 
one  since,  if  the  intruder  remains  still, 
he  will  soon  return  to  his  place  and 
resume  his  song. 

CORRELATIONS 

1.  Language. 

a.  Give  a program  for  another  first 
grade  and  have  the  children  tell 
what  they  have  learned  about 
frogs. 

b.  Compose  a group  story  about 
frogs. 

2.  Music. 

a.  “Frogs  at  School”. 

b.  “Early  Spring”. 

(Music  Hour  in  Kindergarten  and 
First  Grade,  Silver,  Burdett  & 
Co.,  Boston,  Mass.) 

3.  Art. 

a.  Have  the  children  make  draw- 
ings of  a pond  and  include  the 
various  plants  found  around 
swamps. 

b.  For  free  work  have  them  make 
sketches  of  frogs  and  pollywogs 
swimming. 

4.  Writing. 

a.  For  group  work  develop  sen- 
tences and  illustrate  them  such, 
for  example,  as  the  following: 
Carleton  and  Richard  brought 
some  pollywogs. 

The  turtle  ate  the  tadpoles  we 
put  in  his  bowl. 

The  pollywogs  in  the  goldfish 
bowl  are  the  biggest. 

5.  Reading. 

a.  Charts. 

b.  Stories:  “Little  Tadpoles”,  Rand 
McNally,  Chicago. 

“Blue  Pond”,  “Round  About" 
Row,  Peterson  Co.,  New  York. 

c.  Poems : 

(a)  “The  Frog”,  by  Hilaire  Bel- 
loc, 

6.  Multiple  Choice  Test. 

a.  The  pollywog  comes  out  of  (a) 
shell;  (b)  egg;  (c)  cup. 

b.  We  find  frog  eggs  (a)  in  the 
bottom  of  a pond;  (b)  in  the 
grass  around  the  edge;  (c)  on 
top  of  the  water. 

c.  Pollywogs  like  to  eat  (a)  scum; 

(b)  flies;  (c)  insects. 

d.  Frogs  like  to  eat  (a)  scum;  (b) 
flies;  (c)  fish. 

e.  How  many  legs  does  a frog  have  ? 

(a)  one;  (b)  two;  (c)  three;  (d) 
four. 

f.  How  many  years  does  it  take  an 
egg  to  grow  into  a frog  ? ( a ) one ; 

(b)  two;  (c)  three. 

g.  How  many  legs  does  a tiny  polly- 
wog have?  (a)  one;  (b)  two; 

(c)  none. 


Key:  a,  (b);  b,  (b);  c,  (a);  d,  (b); 
e,  (d) ; f,  (c) ; g,  (c). 


55 


How  Animals  Keep  Clean 

(Continued,  from  page  lfl) 


Honeybees 

(Continued  from  page  11) 


which  are  especially  cleanly  animals, 
also  use  their  tongues  for  blushing 
and  cleaning  their  fur.  Few  wild  ani- 
mals have  a disheveled  coat.  Various  do- 
mestic animals,  such  as  the  ruffled 
guinea  pig  and  some  fowls,  have  been 
purposely  bred  with  roughed-up  coats, 
but  nature  seems  to  have  little  liking  for 
such  costumes. 

How  beautifully  bright  and  neat  the 
birds  in  general  keep  themselves!  How 
smooth  and  spotless  is  the  soft  plumage 
of  the  ring-dove!  The  elaborate  plumage 
of  the  wood-duck  is  spread  out  so 
smoothly  and  in  so  beautiful  a pattern 
that  the  slightest  disarrangement  would 
spoil  it.  Domestic  fowls  spend  consider- 
able time  in  oiling  and  smoothing  their 
feathers,  doing  it  all  with  their  bills. 
Even  the  awkward-looking  bill  of  the 
pelican  performs  a similar  task.  Birds 
with  very  long  beaks  are  unable  to 
reach  parts  of  their  necks  with  them, 
but  their  neck  feathers  are  usually  short 
enough  to  stay  in  place  without  much 
care.  If  the  neck  feathers  hre  long,  the 
bill  can  usually  get  hold  of  the  ends  and 
so  straighten  them  out. 

Birds  often  bathe.  No  doubt  you  have 
often  seen  the  English  sparrow  splash- 
ing in  the  water  after  a rain,  or  even 
in  a little  pool  in  the  gutter.  Some 
birds  will  dash,  for  a moment,  against 
the  surface  of  a pond  and  so  give  them- 
selves a superficial  washing.  Often,  when 
I have  been  using  the  hose  to  sprinkle 
my  garden  early  in  the  morning,  with 
the  water  broken  into  spray,  I have 
seen  a robin  look  with  longing  eyes  at 
the  tempting  mist,  running  nearer  and 
nearer,  and  becoming  bolder  and  braver, 
until  he  finally  stood  under  the  falling 
drops.  Every  owner  of  a canary  knows 
how  the  bird  rejoices  in  his  daily  bath 
and  what  an  active,  splashing  perform- 
ance he  makes  of  it.  One  of  the  most 
delightful  ways  of  attracting  birds  to 
one’s  lawn  or  garden  is  to  provide  a 
good-sized  bird  bath  and  keep  it  filled, 
during  the  spring  and  summer  months, 
with  clear  cool  water.  On  a warm  sum- 
mer’s day  I have  seen  a kingbird,  a 
Baltimore  oriole,  and  two  bluebirds  tak- 
ing advantage  of  a bird  bath  within  a 
few  minutes  of  one  another.  Standing  in 
the  shallow  pool,  they  repeatedly  dashed 
their  bodies  under  the  surface,  fluttered 
their  wings  to  shake  off  the  surplus 
moisture,  and  then  flew  away  to  a near- 
by tree  to  dry  themselves  in  the  sun, 
serenading  me,  meantime,  with  a burst 
of  joyous  song. 

Even  the  insects,  as  far  as  the  naked 
eye  can  observe,  keep  “slicked  up”. 
Wasps,  mud-daubers,  flies,  and  mos- 
quitos brush  themselves  with  great  care, 
using  their  forelegs  for  head  brushes 
and  their  hindlegs  for  their  wings.  Af- 
ter a fly  has  brushed  his  head  and  face, 
he  always  rubs  his  feet  together  as  if 
he  were  rolling  the  dust  into  a ball  ready 
to  be  dropped  and  thrown  away. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What  mistaken  idea  do  people  have 
about  pigs? 


2.  Why  is  a pigpen  usually  a dirty 
place?  Is  it  possible  to  have  it  more 
cleanly?  How? 

3.  If  you  see  cows  which  look  dirty, 
what  do  you  think  about  the  farmer 
who  owns  them  ? Would  you  buy  milk  of 
him  ? Why  not  ? 

4.  How  do  horses  help  to  keep  them- 
selves clean  if  they  are  allowed  the  free- 
dom of  a pasture? 

5.  How  do  cattle  keep  themselves  and 
their  offspring  clean  ? 

6.  Tell  how  you  have  seen  your  cat 
slicking  herself  up  after  eating. 

7.  How  do  squirrels  and  rabbits  wash 
their  faces  ? 

8.  What  proof  cap  you  give  that  na- 
ture does  not  like  roughed-up  coats  and 
uncleanly-appearing  animals? 

9.  How  does  the  pelican  look  after  his 
toilet? 

10.  Did  you  ever  see  an  English  spar- 
row splashing  in  the  water  after  a rain- 
storm? Describe  what  it  does. 

11.  If  you  have  a canary  bird  for  a 
pet,  what  should  you  do  to  help  him  in 
his  daily  bath  ? 

12.  Have  you  ever  seen  an  outdoor 
bird  bath  ? Have  you  one  in  your  lawn 
or  garden?  If  so,  describe  it  and  tell 
what  birds  you  have  seen  bathing  in  it. 

13.  Describe  a peculiar  habit  of  the 
fly  which  shows  him  to  be  a cleanly  in- 
sect. 

14.  What  do  you  think  about  the  neces- 
sity of  cleanliness  for  hens  and  chick- 
ens ? 

15.  If  you  have  pets  of  your  own,  tell 
some  of  the  things  you  should  be  par- 
ticular about. 

16.  If  our  animal  friends  have  such 
neat  habits,  what  do  you  think  should 
be  true  about  the  habits  of  their  owners  ? 

ACTIVITIES 

1.  Draw  a picture  of  a cat  washing  his 
face  after  eating. 

2.  Draw  a picture  of  an  English  spar- 
row splashing  in  the  water. 

3.  Draw  a picture  of  a canary  in  his 
cage,  showing  his  little  bathtub. 

4.  Draw  a picture  of  a clean  pig  and 
four  little  ones  in  the  right  kind  of 
a pigpen. 

5.  Write  a little  story  telling  about 
experiences  you  have  had  with 
your  pets,  like  rabbits  or  canaries, 
showing  how  keeping  clean  adds  to 
their  health  and  well  being. 

6.  Draw  a picture  of  the  right  kind  of 
hen-coop,  showing  the  hens  and 
chickens  enjoying  the  henyard. 

7.  Draw  a picture  of  a bird  bathing 
in  an  outdoor  bird  bath. 

8.  Draw  a picture  of  your  dog  enjoy- 
ing a swim  in  a pond. 


is  like  a fine,  sharp 

i.  Bees  always  make  their  cells 


j.  A bee  has 
(a.)  six  sided 
(b.)  winter 
(c.)  trees 
( d.)  needle 
(e.)  pollen 
Key  for  Scoring: 
a (c)  c (b) 
b (f)  d (h) 


legs. 

(f. ) work 

(g)  fly 

(h.)  royal  jelly 
(i.)  smallest 
(j.)  six 


e (e)  g (g)  i (a) 
f (i)  h (d)  j (j) 

4.  Matching  Parts. 

Match  the  beginnings  of  the  sentences 
in  Column  I with  their  proper  endings 
in  Column  II. 

Column  I 

a.  Nectar  comes 

b.  Baby  bees 

c.  Bees  carry 

d.  The  workers 

e.  Each  worker 

f.  The  queen  bee 

g.  The  bees’  home 

h.  The  nurses 
Column  II 

(a)  eat  beebread 

(b)  from  flowers 

(c)  care  for  the  baby  bees 

(d)  lays  eggs 

(e)  has  two  pollen  baskets 

(f ) honey  in  a honey  sac 

(g)  is  called  a hive 

(h)  chew  wax  to  soften  it 
Key  for  Scoring: 

a-(b)  b-(a)  c-(f)  d-(h)  e-(e)  f-(d) 
g-(g)  h- ( c) 

5.  Choosing  the  Right  Word. 

Draw  a line  under  the  appropriate 
word  to  complete  the  sentences. 

( 1 ) Bees  give 

a.  honey,  b.  hats,  c.  houses 
( 2 1 Bees  can 

a.  sting,  b.  swing,  c.  sing 

(3)  Bees  make 

a.  coats,  b.  cells,  c.  caps 

(4)  Bees  get  nectar  from 

a.  fruit,  b.  fish,  c.  flowers 

( 5 ) Bees  carry 

a.  pollen,  b.  pins,  c.  paints 

(6)  Bees  can 

a.  bleat,  b.  buzz,  c.  bite 

(7)  Bees  have  six 

a.  lungs,  b.  lumps,  c.  legs 

(8)  Bees  live  in 

a.  huts,  b.  hives,  c.  homes 

(9)  At  the  door  of  the  hive  you  find 
a.  giants,  b.  girls,  c.  guards 

(10)  Bees  keep  their  homes 
a.  close,  b.  clear,  c.  clean 


Key  for  Scoring: 

(1) a  (3)  b (5)  a (7)  c (9)  c 

(2)  a (4)  c (6)  b (8)  b (10)  c 


The  Squirrel  Unit 


(Continued  from  page  40) 


A.  Red  squirrel  B.  Gray  squirrel  C.  Fly- 
ing squirrel. 

A | B | C | 

1.  He  is  easily  tamed. 

2.  He  gnaws  the  tree  to  get  sap. 

3.  He  is  very  beautiful. 

4.  He  likes  to  chatter. 


5.  He  looks  like  a ball  of  fur  when  he 
sleeps. 

6.  He  likes  a roomy  nest. 

7.  He  has  large  eyes. 

8.  He  is  very  fond  of  pine  seeds. 

9.  He  has  a broad  tail. 

10.  He  lives  in  city  parks. 


56 


The  Cat  and  the  Dog 

( Continued,  from  page  33) 


F.  Recognizing  Tracks  of  Animals 
Peter  went  into  the  garden. 

He  saw  some  tracks  in  the  snow. 
Here  are  the  tracks. 

Do  you  know  who  made  them? 
a.  cat  b.  bird  c.  dog  d.  rat  e. 
Key 

1.  c 2.  e 3.  b 


1. 


ft  n 

*A 


tt 

Tt 


4.  d 

2 


rabbit 
5.  a 

I I 
M 


; 'fit' 

[ 


»•*. 


G.  Blank  Filling  and  identifying  parts  o! 
dog  by  writing  in  letters. 

1.  I am  a . 


I see  with  my  — 
I smell  with  my 
I hear  with  my  - 
I eat  with  my  — 
I run  with  my  — 
I can  wag  my  — 

I made  these  

(a)  tail 
mouth 


(b) 

(c) 

(d) 


nose 

feet 


k A 

to 


(e) 

(f) 

(g) 

(h) 

Key 


ears 

eyes 

puppy 

tracks 


2.  f 
6.  d 


3.  c 
7.  a 


4.  e 
8.  h 


to 


to 


Queer  Flying  Things 

( Continued  from  page  17) 


spiders  avail  themselves  of  breezes  and 
currents  of  warm  air  to  carry  their  light 
and  naturally  buoyant  balloons. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Which  of  the  flying  animals  most 
perfectly  illustrates  the  principle  of  the 
airplane  ? 

2.  What  fisn  flies  in  a similar  way  ? 

3.  Where  are  they  most  often  found? 
(See  Compton’s  Encyclopedia  and  the 
World  Book.) 

4.  Who  was  Henry  David  Thoreau? 

5.  Explain  the  difference  between  the 
flight  of  a bird  and  that  of  the  flying 
squirrel. 

6.  Where  is  the  flying  tree  frog  most 
commonly  found? 

7.  What  is  a chameleon  ? In  what  re- 
spect is  the  flying  frog  similar? 

8.  What  other  name  is  often  given  to 
the  flying  tree  frog?  (The  flying  tree 
toad.) 

9.  How  does  this  little  animal  hold  his 
place  on  the  trunk  of  the  tree? 

10.  What  peculiar  flying  insect  do  we 
find  in  Texas  ? 

11.  How  far  can  she  fly?  How  does 
she  carry  her  young  ones  ? 

12.  How  did  the  aeronautic  spider  get 
its  name?  (Look  up  the  meaning  of 
aeronautic.) 

13.  Describe  how  this  spider  goes  to 
work  to  manufacture  her  aircraft.  ( See 
The  Grade  Teacher  for  June,  1937.) 

14.  Draw  a picture  of  the  aeronautic 
spider. 

15.  Have  you  read  in  the  newspapers 
about  the  Black  Widow  spider?  Why 
does  it  have  that  name  ? 

16.  Why  should  children  not  handle 
spiders?  (One  may  be  bitten  by  a poi- 
sonous spider  and  made  very  ill.  Death 


may  result  from  the  bite  of  the  Black 
Widow  spider.) 

17.  Why  is  the  operator  of  an  air- 
plane called  an  aviator?  (The  name 
comes  from  the  Latin  word  “avis”,  a 
bird,  so  that  the  word  "aviator”  means 
a man  bird  or  a man  who  flies.) 

18.  The  term  aviator — man  bird — is 
not  entirely  appropriate,  since  the  move- 
ments of  an  airplane  have  only  a remote 
resemblance  to  the  movements  of  a bird 
in  flight.  Explain  some  of  the  differ- 
ences. 

19.  Why  does  the  author*  say  that  nei- 
ther airplanes  nor  flying  animals,  other 
than  birds  and  bats,  are  true  flying  ma- 
chines ? 

20.  Do  you  suppose  our  aviators  real- 
ize what  interesting  little  rivals  they 
have  in  the  art  of  flying?  Why? 

21.  Are  you  more  interested  now  in 
studying  the  airplane,  man’s  flying  ma- 
chine? Why? 

THINGS  TO  DO 

1.  Select  any  of  these  flying  animals  or 
insects  which  you  have  seen  and  write  a 
little  story  about  your  experience,  draw- 
ing a picture  of  the  animal  or  insect 
which  you  are  telling  about. 

2.  Look  up  the  life  of  the  Wright 
Brothers  and  see  if  you  can  find  out  to 
what  extent  they  studied  the  objects  of 
nature  in  developing  their  invention  of 
the  flying  machine. 

3.  Write  a paragraph  explaining  the 
difference  between  the  terms  “flying” 
and  “soaring”.  For  example,  we  often 
hear  the  hawk  spoken  of  as  soaring, 
rather  than  flying.  (Briefly,  we  think  of 
flying  as  passing  through  the  air  by  the 
aid  of  wings  in  motion,  as  the  ordinary 
bird  flies.  When  the  wings  are  not  in 

57 


motion,  as  is  often  the  case  with  the 
hawk,  and  the  bird’s  body  is  sustained 
only  by  the  current  of  air  through  which 
it  is  passing,  we  say  it  is  not  in  flight 
but  is  soaring.) 

4.  Make  a list  of  the  most  famous  avi- 
ators of  whom  you  have  read,  including 
both  men  and  women. 


5.  Now  we  are  ready  to  begin  our  air- 
plane unit.  Make  a little  outline  of  the 
way  in  which  you  would  like  to  begin 
your  study. 


Crusty,  the  Hermit 
Crab 

( Continued  from  page  22) 

He  dragged  his  roommate  and  the  old 
homestead  behind  him  searching  for  a 
new  home.  He  looked  behind  stones  and 
under  tree  roots.  He  looked  everywhere 
but  each  suitable  house  was  filled.  Finally 
he  found  the  very  thing,  a fine  snail  shell 
house,  on  the  edge  of  a tidepool. 

It  was  a splendid  place  to  live.  He  had 
a good  view  overlooking  the  water.  Any 
Hermit  Crab  would  like  that  house,  so  he 
slipped  out  of  the  old  shell.  But  he  for- 
got to  be  careful.  He  did  not  look  first 
to  see  if  Mr.  Sandpiper  was  anywhere 
around.  Before  he  could  back  into  his 
beautiful  new  house  the  Sandpiper  hopped 
into  sight  not  far  away.  Crusty  took  one 
look  and  dived  into  the  pool.  He  did  not 
so  much  as  move  a claw  after  he  got 
under  a rock  on  the  very  bottom.  He 
was  frightened. 

Mr.  Sandpiper  waited  and  waited.  He 
hopped  from  one  side  of  the  tidepool  to 
the  other.  He  cocked  his  head  this  way 
and  that  but  he  couldn’t  fool  Crusty  who 
lay  very  still.  Finally  a sand  flea  jumped 
and  the  Sandpiper  rushed  off  to  capture 
it.  He  forgot  all  about  Crusty. 

But  Crusty  did  not  forget  about  Mr. 
Sandpiper.  Nor  was  all  danger  over  for 
him.  Just  as  he  was  about  to  come  out 
of  the  water  a small  fish  darted  close  to 
him.  Crusty  shrank  back. 

After  awhile  he  arose  to  the  surface 
An  unhappy  sight  met  his  eyes.  There 
was  his  beautiful  moon  shell  house  disap- 
pearing down  the  sand.  He  would  be 
homeless  again  if  he  didn’t  get  his  house 
back.  Crusty  was  a brave  little  fellow. 
He  hurried  after  his  house  as  fast  as  he 
could  go.  Finally  he  caught  up  with  it. 
There  inside  was  another  Hermit  Crab, 
bigger  than  Crusty.  But,  by  pulling  and 
tugging,  Crusty  pried  the  Hermit  Crab 
loose.  Out  he  came  with  a jerk!  He  lost 
one  leg  in  the  fight,  but  he  didn’t  mind, 
for  a new  one  will  grow  right  back,  in 
the  crab  family.  He  bounced  away  angrily 
as  Crusty  backed  into  his  lovely  house. 

Many  times  after  that  as  Crusty  grew 
larger,  he  was  obliged  to  change  houses. 
He  seemed  to  like  moving.  He  grew  into 
a great  fighter.  Nowhere  on  all  the  beach 
was  there  a crab  that  was  his  match. 


little  parents.  Then  come  busy  times. 
The  babies  must  be  fed  and  cared  for. 
So  an  all-day  scamper  and  scramble  for 
food  begins.  And  all  the  time  one  must 
watch  out  for  sounds  and  scents  that 
mean  “A  dog  is  coming.”  “There  is  a 
boy  with  a gun!  Run!  Run!” 

Busy  as  they  are,  chipmunks  have 
plenty  of  time  for  play.  Did  you  ever 
see  two  or  three  of  them  have  a game 
of  tag  ? Round  and  round  they  scamper, 
first  one  ahead,  then  another.  Mean- 
while they  chatter  and  scream,  and 
seem  to  have  as  good  a time  as  school 
children  out  at  recess. 

The  gray  squirrel  is  much  larger  than 
the  red.  He  is  an  elegant  little  fellow. 
The  upper  parts  of  his  body  are  gray, 
the  under  parts  are  white,  and  there  are 
yellowish-brown  dashes  of  color  on  his 
back  and  sides. 

His  ears  are  high,  narrow,  and 
pointed.  He  has  a magnificent  bushy 
tail,  of  which  he  is  very  proud.  His  tail 
is  more  than  an  ornament.  When  he 
takes  a leap  from  some  tall  tree,  he 
arches  his  great  tail  and  this  helps  to 
break  his  fall.  When  he  goes  to  sleep, 
he  wraps  it  about  him,  like  a warm, 
furry  blanket.  A story  is  told  of  a gray 
squirrel  who  once  lost  part  of  his  tail. 
He  was  heart-broken.  He  went  away 


The  male  reindeer  has  branching  antlers. 
These  fall  off  in  the  month  of  November 
and  new  ones  grow  in  the  spring. 

The  reindeer  lives  on  moss,  twigs,  and 
lichens.  It  constitutes  the  chief  wealth  of 
the  Laplander,  some  having  herds  of  two 
thousand  or  more.  The  milk  is  used  for 
cheese  and  the  flesh  for  food;  the  sinews 
for  thread;  the  fat  for  oil  and  the  bones 
for  needles  and  tools.  The  reindeer  is 
especially  valuable  as  a draught  animal 
for  which  purpose  it  is  harnessed  to 
sledges.  He  travels  about  ten  miles  an 
hour  and  can  draw  a weight  of  two  hun- 
dred pounds  besides  the  sledge. 

THE  WHITE  POLAR  BEAR 

The  great  white  polar,  or  ice  bear,  is 
recognized  as  belonging  to  a distinct  class 
of  bears.  Its  features  are  unlike  those  of 
other  bears.  The  head  is  long  and  pointed, 
the  body  elongated,  the  limbs  slender, 
the  feet  hairy-soled,  and  the  coat  cream- 
white.  They  are  large  animals,  sometimes 
ten  feet  in  length  and  very  strong.  They 
are  numerous  in  Arctic  regions.  They 
feed  upon  fish,  young  walrus,  and  young 
seals,  sometimes  swimming  for  miles  in 
search  of  food.  Often  the  food  is  found 
in  the  surf  and  in  the  coast  rivers  where 
the  fish  come  to  spawn. 

THE  WALRUS 

The  walrus  is  distinguished  from  other 


Squirrels 

( Continued  from  page  43) 

and  hid,  and  nothing  could  coax  him 
from  his  hiding  place. 

The  gray  squirrel  lives  in  the  trunk 
of  some  old  tree.  The  entrance  is  far 
up  among  the  branches.  When  spring 
comes,  the  little  fellow  seems  to  feel 
the  need  of  a summer  home.  So  he  se- 
lects a new  and  pleasanter  location — 
usually  in  a tree  not  far  from  his  winter 
residence. 

Here  he  builds  a pretty  cottage  of 
small,  leafy  twigs.  To  this  home  he 
brings  his  mate,  and  here  the  baby 
squirrels  are  bom  and  brought  up.  The 
old  home  is  not  forgotten.  The  squir- 
rels often  visit  it.  And  when  they  are 
in  danger,  it  is  to  the  hollow  tree 
trunk  that  they  scamper  for  safety. 

Gray  squirrels  are  easily  tamed.  In 
some  cities  they  play  about  the  paths 
of  public  parks  and  along  the  road- 
sides and  seem  quite  as  much  at  home 
as  the  children  who  pet  and  feed  them. 
In  these  cities,  laws  are  made  to  keep 
people  from  killing  or  harming  the  tame 
squirrels. 

A little  girl  who  lives  in  New  York 
City  once  told  me  how  she  plays  with 
the  squirrels  in  Central  Park.  When  she 
goes  to  the  park,  she  always  carries 
a bag  of  peanuts  for  them.  She  sits 
down  on  the  walk  and  they  gather  all 


Animals  of  the  Arctic 

( Continued  from  page  49) 

polar  animals  by  its  tusks  which  grow 
from  the  upper  jaw  as  largely  developed 
canine  teeth,  downwards  and  slightly  in- 
ward fifteen  inches  or  more  in  length. 
These  tusks  serve  the  animal  as  weapons 
and  as  tools  in  digging  mollusks,  upon 
which  it  mainly  lives,  or  in  climbing  rocks 
on  the  shore.  The  walrus  is  a large 
animal,  often  twelve  feet  in  length  with  a 
girth  nearly  as  much.  The  eye  of  the 
walrus  is  small;  the  external  ear  is  lack- 
ing though  the  orifice  is  visible. 

The  walrus  is  yellow-brown  in  color. 
The  hide  is  very  tough  and  thick  so  that 
it  can  be  penetrated  by  a bullet  only  with 
great  difficulty.  It  is  used  by  the  Eskimo 
for  dog  harnesses.  The  walrus  is  abun- 
dant along  the  seashore.  It  is  a quiet, 
inoffensive  animal  unless  it  is  attacked  or 
when  its  young  are  in  danger.  Then  it 
fights  desperately.  Owing  to  reckless 
slaughter  of  years  past,  they  are  greatly 
decreased  in  number. 

THE  SEAL 

Seals  are  found  in  the  North  Pacific 
Ocean  and  in  Behring  Sea;  on  the  shore 
of  Eastern  Labrador  and  Western  Green- 
land. There  are  two  great  types  of  seals: 
the  fur  seal,  which  yields  the  sealskin  of 
commerce,  and  the  hair  seal,  which  yields 
a valuable  oil  and  leather. 

The  hair  seal  is  the  one  seen  in  the 
circus.  The  face  is  small  and  short;  the 

58 


about  her  for  the  nuts.  Some  of  them 
come  and  eat  out  of  her  hands.  Others 
wait  until  they  think  she  is  not  looking, 
run  up,  grab  a nut,  run  away,  and  eat 
it  at  a safe  distance.  Some  of  them, 
however,  will  never  come  near  her,  no 
matter  how  much  she  coaxes  them.  For 
these  timid  ones  she  always  leaves 
some  nuts  nicely  shelled. 

THE  FLYING  SQUIRREL 

There  is  one  squirrel  who  is  up  and 
doing  only  at  night.  All  day  he  is  rolled 
up  in  a small  furry  ball.  But  at  night 
how  he  flies  about,  building  his  house 
or  storing  up  nuts.  This  is  the  flying 
squirrel.  Unlike  other  squirrels,  he  has 
a strong,  elastic  fold  of  skin  between 
each  fore  and  hind  leg.  These  folds  are 
partly  held  up  by  the  bony  part  of  the 
feet.  When  the  squirrel  leaps,  they 
spread  out,  something  like  wings,  and 
break  his  fall. 

Although  this  squirrel  is  called  a fly- 
ing squirrel,  his  way  of  getting  through 
the  air  is  not  like  that  of  a bird.  He 
cannot  fly  upward.  His  flight  is  only  a 
long-drawn-out  descent.  He  drops  quick- 
ly in  a slanting  direction,  holding  out  his 
legs  straight  and  stiff  from  his  body  and 
making  his  body  itself  broad  and  flat. 
His  tail  acts  something  like  a rudder. 


ear  is  small.  He  has  feet  with  long  claws. 
The  posterior  limbs  only  - are  used  in 
swimming  and  do  not  bend  forward  at 
the  knee.  The  seal  swims  through  the 
water  quickly.  When  on  land  he  cannot 
walk  or  rim,  but  wriggles  along.  The 
head  and  neck  can  be  raised  as  in  the 
bear.  They  have  five  toes  on  each  limb, 
joined  together  by  webs.  They  have  a 
short  tail  joined  beyond  the  middle  to  the 
hind  legs  by  the  skin. 

For  some  reason  seals  sometimes 
swallow  large  sto  ies.  They  breathe  slowly, 
having  only  about  thirty  respirations  per 
hour.  They  have  the  most  curiosity  of 
all  polar  animals.  They  will  come  quite 
close  to  ships,  as  if  curious  to  see  them. 
They  are  particularly  attracted  by  mus- 
ical sounds.  Often  they  will  gather  on 
shore  in  large  numbers  at  the  sound  of 
ringing  bells  or  other  music.  They  take 
good  care  of  their  young.  They  prepare 
for  them  a small  igloo  in  the  ice  near  the 
shore.  The  baby  seal  makes  a curious 
noise  when  hungry  or  frightened.  By 
imitating  this  noise,  the  Eskimo  hunters 
catch  many.  The  mother  seal  rushes  forth 
at  the  sound  which  she  thinks  is  made  by 
the  baby  seals,  and  so  is  easily  captured 
or  shot. 

The  fur  of  the  seal  is  valuable.  Every 
year  thousands  are  killed  by  hunters  to 
satisfy  the  demand  of  commerce. 


Preparing  for  Winter 


Rabbits,  Squirrels,  Turtles 

( Continued  from  page  28) 


He  likes  to  climb. 

He  likes  to  play. 

He  likes  pecans. 

He  lives  in  this  cage. 

His  name  is  Bobbie. 

Our  Rabbit 
Our  rabbit  is  pretty. 

He  is  white. 

He  has  pink  eyes. 

He  has  long  pink  ears. 

He  likes  to  hop,  hop,  hop. 

He  lives  in  this  hutch. 

His  name  is  Joe. 

Our  Turtles 
Our  turtle  is  pretty. 

He  likes  to  crawl. 

He  pulls  his  head  into  his  shell. 

He  pulls  his  legs  and  tail  into  his  shell. 
He  likes  meat  and  lettuce. 

He  lives  in  this  glass  bowl. 

His  name  is  Tim. 

Peanut  is  a turtle,  too. 

He  lives  with  Tim. 


HOW  IT  HELPED  OUR  READING 
PROGRAM 

The  making  and  reading  of  these  charts 
were  delightful  experiences,  as  they  were 
the  results  of  actual  observations  of  the 
live  specimens.  This  work  greatly  mo- 
tivated our  reading  program.  The  chil- 
dren learned  to  read  the  little  stories 
quickly  as  they  were  simple,  meaningful, 
and  interesting 


Now  we  were  ready  for  the  next  step 
which  was  to  get  pictures  of  foods  and 
enemies  of  the  pets.  As  a result,  attrac- 
tive charts  were  made  with  the  pictures 
and  word  labels  bearing  titles  such  as: 
“What  Tim  Eats,”  “Enemies  of  Our  Pets.” 

Many  other  facts  were  learned  other 
than  the  ones  listed  by  the  groups,  such 
as: 

How  the  pets  live  in  their  woodland 
homes 

How  they  live  in  winter 
Their  use  to  man 
The  damage  they  do  to  man 
The  irnit  can  go  on  and  on,  as  the  child’s 
interest  in  animals  is  ever  constant.  Daily 
they  observe  something  new.  We  brought 
the  study  to  a close  after  four  months. 

It  culminated  with  the  group  giving  an 
assembly  program  in  the  form  of  a playlet 

in  two  scenes.  During  the  first  one,  the 
children  introduced  our  pets  to  the  audi- 
ence. They  then  gave  a resume  of  the 
things  which  they  had  learned  and  the 
experiences  enjoyed. 

The  second  scene  carried  the  audience 
on  an  imaginary  trip  to  the  woods  to  see 
the  pets  in  their  natural  environment. 
Here  they  dramatized  in  song,  speech,  and 
dance  the  activities  of  the  pets  with  their 
animal  friends  in  the  woods,  assisted  by 
Sun,  Rain,  and  Spring,  which  were  all 
necessary  to  help  awaken  the  animals 
from  their  winter  sleep. 


OUTCOMES  AND  ACTIVITIES 

1.  Stories  were  read  to  the  children 
and  before  the  close  of  the  unit  they  were 
able  to  read  short  simple  stories  them- 
selves. Some  of  these  were  read  for  en- 
joyment, dramatization,  some  for  retell- 
ing, while  others  were  purely  informa- 
tional. 

2.  They  learned  many  songs  and  poems. 

3.  They  studied  the  painting,  The  Boy 
and  the  Rabbit. 

4.  They  played  games:  Squirrel  and 
Trees,  Squirrel  and  Nuts,  Animal  Imita- 
tions. 

5.  They  made  folders  for  their  work 
which  were  displayed  at  the  P.  T.  A. 
meeting.  Each  folder  had  the  picture  of 
a pet  colored  and  its  name  written  under 
it. 

6.  They  made  freehand  drawings,  book- 
lets, and  clay  models. 

7.  They  saw  the  sound  film,  “Adven- 
tures of  Bunny  Rabbit;”  film  strips, 
“Peter  Rabbit”  and  “Farm  Animals;” 
slide,  “A  Rabbit.” 

They  listened  to  a recording  of  “Peter 
Rabbit.” 

8.  They  did  the  following  types  of 
checks: 

(a)  Match  names  with  pictures. 

(b)  Interpret  action  sentences.  (Ex- 
ample: Crawl  like  a turtle.) 

(c)  Read,  guess  and  make  riddles. 

I am  little. 

I can  hop. 

I have  pink  eyes. 

Draw  me. 

(d)  Read  and  answer  yes  or  no. 

Is  Tim  a turtle? 

Is  Bobbie  a rabbit? 

Does  Joe  eat  meat? 

Does  Tim  have  a shell? 

Does  Joe  have  strong  legs? 

Does  Peanut  hop? 


INTEGRATED  SUBJECTS 

Opportunities  for  language  learnings 
were  ever  present. 

The  importance  of  health  in  caring  for 
our  pets  was  stressed  and  compared  with 
the  good  health  habits  the  children  them- 
selves should  have:  cleanliness  of  homes, 
proper  food,  clean  fresh  water,  regularity 
of  meals. 

Experiences  in  art  were  enjoyed 
through  coloring,  drawings,  and  modeling 
animals. 

Painting  boxes  for  assembly  program 
and  for  turtles’  house. 

Cutting  out  covers  for  turtles’  stand. 

The  children’s  vocabularies  were  con- 
stantly enlarged. 

Association  with  an  observation  of 
these  pets  made  a far  more  lasting  im- 
pression than  any  amount  of  mere  read- 
ing would  do.  A very  convincing  event 
took  place  almost  a month  after  our  as- 
sembly program.  Our  turtle  awakened 
from  four  months  of  slumber  in  his  bed 
of  mud.  The  children  immediately  rec- 
ognized what  was  happening.  They  knew 
what  food  was  necessary  and  how  to  care 
for  him.  Two  boys  purchased  some  beef, 
and  what  a thrill  it  gave  them  to  see  the 
turtle  eat  his  first  meal  since  October. 

59 


( Continued  from  page  30) 

viewed  the  discussion  of  animals  and 
recalled  the  discussion  of  grasshoppers 
and  crickets.  First  it  was  understood  that 
while  these  creatures  are  called  insects, 
they  are  really  little  animals.  The  chil- 
dren knew  that  many  grasshoppers  and 
crickets  die,  but  did  not  know  that  many 
of  these  had  laid  eggs.  It  was  explained 
that  the  eggs  did  not  have  to  be  kept 
warm  and  that  they  were  laid  near  food. 

Everyone  knew  the  story  of  the  cater- 
pillar and  was  eager  to  talk  about  its 
long  sleep. 

The  picture  of  the  beetle  was  new  to 
them.  A few  children  had  seen  beetles 
but  no  child  had  any  idea  of  what  hap- 
pened to  them.  The  fact  that  beetles  and 
similar  insects  crawl  into  the  ground  and 
sleep  caused  one  boy  to  remark,  “Maybe 
they  think  they’re  bears.” 

To  vary  the  lesson,  the  book  “Do  You 
Know”  was  used.  As  teacher  showed 
pictures,  children  discussed  them. 

PART  III 

How  Plants  Get  Ready  for  Winter 

In  line  with  the  main  thought  the  ob- 
jective here  was  to  see  what  had  hap- 
pened to  things  we  had  seen,  plants  in 
our  gardens,  wild  flowers,  trees. 

The  lesson  started  by  playing  a game 
which  reviewed  the  first  two  parts  of  the 
unit.  The  teacher  had  printed  riddles  on 
small  cards.  A child  read  a riddle  to  the 
class  and  chose  someone  to  answer  it. 
Sample  riddles  follow: 

I am  little. 

I have  a long  bushy  tail. 

I store  nuts  for  winter. 

Who  am  I? 
and 

I am  very  small. 

I curl  up  inside  a cocoon. 

I sleep  until  spring. 

Who  am  I? 

Then  the  teacher  remarked  that  the  chil- 
dren now  knew  about  animals,  but  that 
we  had  not  talked  about  plants.  Most  of 
the  class  thought  all  plants  died.  How- 
ever, one  little  girl  said  she  thought  some 
plants  must  just  sleep  because  she  had 
seen  people  covering  them  up.  Another 
child  told  about  the  iris  in  her  garden. 
The  children  decided  that  leaves  and 
stems  of  some  plants  do  die,  but  that  the 
roots  are  alive  and,  in  the  spring,  new 
stews  and  leaves  will  grow. 

In  thinking  about  wild  flowers,  it  was 

decided  that  these  do  die,  but  before  this 
happens,  the  flowers  have  made  seeds 
that  will  grow  into  new  plants  in  the 
spring. 

The  children  were  amazed  that  a tree 
is  a plant.  When  proof  had  been  estab- 
lished, they  were  eager  to  talk  about 
the  changing  color  of  the  leaves  and  their 
falling  off.  Most  of  the  class  thought  that 
trees  died  and  then  by  means  of  some 
magic  trick  came  alive  in  the  spring. 
Further  discussion  of  the  tree  as  a plant 
cleared  this  up.  They  saw  that  the 
branches,  trunks  and  roots  stay  alive  all 
winter.  It  was  pointed  out  that  some 
trees  did  not  lose  their  leaves  and  stayed 
green  all  winter.  They  were  told  that 
these  were  evergreen  trees. 


The  Spinning  Lady  of  Spiderland 


she  adds  other  spokes  and  many  cross- 
ings at  the  center  so  as  to  make  a stout 
hub  in  the  wheel-like  structure.  Starting 
at  the  hub,  she  spins  about  it  a series  of 
spiral  lines,  each  time  widening  her  cir- 
cle. These  lines  form  the  scaffolding  for 
her  structure. 

Starting  at  the  outer  rim  of  her  cir- 
cle, she  then  begins  to  spin  with  a new 
brand  of  silk  which  is  much  finer  and 
is  well  coated  with  a sticky  substance. 
This  thread  catches  and  holds  unwary 
insects.  Round  and  round  she  spins,  un- 
til she  reaches  the  center.  Sometimes, 
she  runs  out  beyond  her  web  a taut  tap 
line  and  hides  herself  behind  a leaf  or 
other  convenient  screen.  The  slightest 
disturbance  in  the  web  is  carried  to  her 
through  this  line. 

THE  SPIDER'S  ANATOMY 

This  interesting  creature  is  not,  as  is 
often  thought,  an  insect,  but  belongs  to 
the/  class  Arachnida.  The  spider  has 
eight  legs,  while  the  insect  possesses  but 
six.  The  four  pairs  of  legs  afe  attached 
to  the  thorax.  Each  leg  consists  of  seven 
segments,  terminating  in  two  or  three 
claws.  The  head  and  thorax  of  the  spider 
are  in  one  segment  and  are  connected 
to  the  abdomen.  The  spider  has  two 
claw-like  appendages,  called  chelicerae, 
extending  from  the  head,  instead  of  the 
antennae  of  the  insect.  Near  the  top  of 
each  claw  is  the  opening  of  the  poison 
glands. 

The  organs  with  which  the  spider  does 
its  spinning  are  located  at  the  rear  of 
her  sack-like  abdomen.  Most  spiders 
have  three  pairs  of  these  spinnerets.  A 
view  of  these  organs  through  a micro- 


(Continued  from  page  7) 
scope  would  reveal  perhaps  a hundred 
tiny  spinning  tubes  over  each  spinneret, 
from  which  the  silk  threads  are  ex- 
pelled. 

OTHER  KINDS  OF  SPIDERS 

Mrs.  Aeronautic  Spider  finds  many 
other  uses  for  her  silk  besides  weaving 
it  into  webs.  Sometimes  she  wishes  to 
catch  insects  that  are  floating  about  in 
the  air.  This  wise  lady  knows  just  how 
to  go  about  manufacturing  her  own  air- 
craft. She  crawls  to  a high,  wind-swept 
position,  spins  out  silk,  and  weaves  it 
into  a sort  of  parachute.  The  wind 
catches  this  and  bears  the  lady  flier  up 
and  away,  sometimes  for  miles.  How 
does  she  get  down?  Easily  enough,  for 

she  has  but  to  spin  a drop-cable  and 
lower  herself  upon  it. 

The  Trap-door  Spider  digs  tunnels  in 
the  ground  and,  with  her  silk  and  a mix- 
ture of  mud,  fastens  over  her  home  a 
neat,  close-fitting  door.  Some  of  these 
tunnels  act  as  traps.  They  are  held  shut 
only  by  a gossamer  thread  which  breaks 
the  instant  a hapless  victim  touches  it. 
Then  the  prey  is  plunged  into  the  tun- 
nel to  be  devoured.  Others  have  doors 
which  are  carefully  widened  at  the  top 

and  fitted  so  securely  as  not  to  allow 
any  intruder — such  as  the  centipede, 
the  cousin  and  asch-enemy  of  the  spider 
— to  enter. 

Perhaps  the  species  of  spiders  most 
feared  by  the  human  race  are  the  Taran- 
tula and  the  “Black-Widow”  Spider. 
Both  are  said  to  have  caused  death  by 
their  bites.  Certainly  the  bites  of  some 
spiders  cause  much  suffering  and  dis- 


tress, so  it  ia  well  for  children  to  let 
them  all  entirely  alone,  and  to  admire 
their  peculiar  talents  at  a distance. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  Which  is  the  most  energetic  and 
important  member  of  the  spider  house- 
hold? 

2.  Why  is  Mr.  Spider  not  as  independ- 
ent as  his  wife  ? 

3.  Is  a spider  an  insect  ? Show  some 
differences  between  insects  and  spiders. 

4.  How  does  Mrs.  Spider  know  at  once 
when  she  has  caught  an  insect  in  her 
web? 

5.  How  many  eyes  has  a spider? 

6.  Tell  what  you  think  is  wonderful 
about  the  spider’s  method  of  making  her 
home. 

7.  Draw  a picture  showing  how  the 
spider  begins  to  spin. 

8.  Tell  how  Mrs.  Spider  is  something 
like  the  “Man  on  the  Flying  Trapeze.” 

9.  Have  you  ever  seen  a spider  web 
that  seems  to  hang  in  mid-air?  Where? 

10.  Tell  why  some  spiders  are  called 
“trap-door”  spiders. 

11.  What  are  some  of  the  most  dan- 
gerous spiders? 

12.  Tell* why  it  is  best  not  to  handle 
spiders. 

13.  Should  you  admire  their  lacey 
webs?  Why? 

14.  Read  the  old  poem  “The  Spider  and 
the  Fly”  and  draw  a picture  to  illustrate 
it. 


es  himself  with 

a.  tail  b.  paws  c.  tongue 
8.  He  likes  to  drink 

a.  water  b.  oil  c.  gasoline 

3.  Directions  to  follow. 

Read  the  story  “The  Little  Old 
Woman  and  Her  Rabbits." 

1.  Draw  the  little  old  woman. 

2.  Color  her  dress  blue. 

3.  Draw  her  garden. 

4.  Color  the  vegetables. 

5.  Draw  Mrs.  Rabbit  in  her  garden. 

4.  Yes  and  No  questions. 

1.  Are  cottontails  wild  rabbits? 

2.  Do  they  have  brown  fur  in  win- 
ter ? 

3.  Do  they  have  short  ears  ? 

4.  Are  their  hind  legs  a great  help 
to  them  ? 

5.  Are  their  noses  always  in  mo- 
tion? 

6.  Do  they  like  the  briar  patch  for 
their  homes? 

5.  Matching  sentences  to  pictures. 
Place  pictures  on  the  chalk  tray. 

Write  informational  sentences 
about  these  pictures.  Number 


Rabbits 

( Continued  from  page  39) 


pictures  and  sentences  and 
match  them. 

6.  Matching  words.  Descriptive 
words. 

1.  fur  1.  pads 

2.  nose  2.  stumpy 

3.  mouth  3.  three-cornered 

4.  tail  4.  brown 

5.  ears  5.  strong 

6.  feet  6.  wild 

7.  legs  7.  sensitive 

8.  cottontails  8.  long 


7.  Completion  sentences. 

1.  Rabbits  have  many  

2.  A rabbit  freezes  when  he  is 

in 

3.  Rabbits  are  sometimes  killed 

by 

4.  Rabbits  are  sometimes  run  over 

by 

5.  Rabbits  are  sometimes  caught 

in 

6.  Rabbits  are  sometimes  eaten 

by 

7.  Rabbits  are  sometimes  killed  by 

bad 


8.  Rabbits  are  very  good 

1.  dodgers  5.  automobiles 

2.  traps  6.  weasels 

3.  danger  7.  enemies 

4.  hunters  8.  boys 

8.  Free  story  illustration. 

Read  a rabbit  story  to  the  pupils. 
Let  them  illustrate  it  with  their 
crayons. 

9.  Matching  parts  to  make  them  true. 

1.  A wild  rabbit  is  

2.  A tame  rabbit  should  be  

3.  Rabbits  have 

4.  When  an  enemy  is  near 

5.  A baby  rabbit  follows 

6.  A rabbit  keeps  

7.  A rabbit’s  flesh  is  used 

8.  A rabbit  learns  

1.  many  enemies 

2.  very  clean 

3.  a rabbit  freezes 

4.  his  mother’s  cottontail 

5.  always  in  danger 

6.  fed  three  times  a day. 

7.  to  keep  out  of  danger. 

8.  for  food. 


60 


The  Frog  Unit  Wild  Animals 

(Continued  from  page  19)  ( Continued  from  page  42) 


Tree  frogs 

1.  A tree  frog  is  very  a. 

small  b.  clumsy  c.  large 

2.  His  color  may  be a.  yellow 

b.  gray  c.  pink  d.  brown  e.  green 

3.  On  the  bark  of  a tree  he  looks 
a.  green  b.  brown  c.  yellow 

4.  For  hours  a day  he  a. 

jumps  b.  sits  c.  climbs 


5.  On  the  bottom  of  his  toes  is  a 

pad.  a.  round  b.  big  c. 

sticky 

6.  Tree  frogs  can  and 

a.  dance  b.  climb  c. 

laugh  d.  swim 

5.  Yes  or  no 

1.  Tree  frogs  change  colors. 

2.  Tree  frogs  are  large. 

3.  Tree  frogs  are  good  jumpers. 

4.  Tree  frogs  work  all  day. 

5.  Tree  frogs  are  good  swimmers. 

6.  Tree  frogs  are  six  inches  long. 

7.  Tree  frogs  have  sticky  pads  on 
their  feet. 

8.  Tree  frogs  could  walk  on  window 
panes. 

9.  Tree  frogs  like  cool,  damp  places. 

10.  Tree  frogs  are  larger  than 

leopard  frogs. 

V.  INFORMATION  GIVEN  TO  PUPILS 

A.  Frogs  in  general. 

Frogs  are  found  in  all  parts  of  the 
United  States  except  where  it  is  hot  and 
dry.  They  are  first  cousins  to  toads.  They 
have  a moist,  clammy  skin  without 
scales.  All  lay  their  eggs  in  water  in 
jellylike  masses.  All  pass  through  a tad- 
pole stage. 

B.  Leopard  frogs. 

The  common  leopard  frog  is  found 
throughout  the  country.  It  has  rows  of 
black  spots  on  back  and  legs.  The  under 
side  is  light,  like  that  of  all  frogs.  Its  life 
is  an  example  of  frogs  in  general.  The 
eggs  are  found  in  water  a foot  or  less 
deep.  The  female  lays  her  eggs  in  a single 
mass  of  jelly.  A small  frog  may  lay 
from  two  thousand  to  three  thousand 
eggs.  A large  frog  lays  six  to  eight 
thousand  eggs.  Each  egg  is  black  above, 
light  below,  and  one-sixteenth  inch  in 
diameter.  When  first  laid,  the  mass  is  as 
large  as  a teacup,  but  swells  up  in  the 
water. 

The  egg  hatches  out  into  a pollywog. 
In  a few  days  it  has  gills  for  breathing, 
a tail  for  swimming,  and  a pair  of  horny 
beaks  with  which  it  nips  off  bits  of  vege- 
tation. A tadpole  grows  to  be  three  or 
four  inches  long.  Then  he  begins  to  sniff 
air  into  his  lungs.  As  he  sniffs,  his  lungs 
grow  larger,  his  gills  get  smaller.  His 
tail  gets  shorter  and  shorter  until  it  is 
absorbed.  His  arms  and  legs  have  grown. 
He  is  prepared  for  life  on  land. 

A frog  has  moist  skin,  large,  promi- 
nent eyes,  smooth  drumheads  of  the 
ears  back  of  the  eyes;  a mouth  with  a 
wide  gape;  a long  tongue,  loose  behind 
and  capable  of  being  flipped  out  to  catch 
his  prey.  He  has  small  arms  and  hands 
with  four  fingers  each,  large,  powerful 
legs  and  feet  with  five  webbed  toes.  A 
frog  lives  in  marshy  places.  He  absorbs 
water  through  his  skin.  He  hibernates 
all  winter.  In  the  spring,  the  eggs  are 
laid  by  the  female.  A frog  is  not  full 


grown  until  he  is  five  years  old. 

He  may  live  from  ten  to 
twenty  years.  A frog  captures  mosqui- 
toes and  insects  that  pester  man  and 
animals.  Frogs’  legs  are  a great  delicacy. 

C.  Tree  frogs. 

Tree  frogs  are  small.  They  are  never 
more  than  two  inches  long.  They  may  be 
gray,  green  or  brown.  If  they  rest  on  a 
leaf,  they  may  be  green.  If  they  cling  to 
the  gray  bark  of  a tree,  they  are  gray. 
They  sit  for  hours  and  never  move.  A 
true  frog  hunts  for  food  at  night.  The 
tree  frog  catches  ants,  gnats,  flies,  and 
lightning  bugs.  The  bottom  of  each  toe 
has  a sticky  pad,  which  catches  and 
holds  whatever  it  touches.  A tree  frog 
is  a good  jumper  and  is  not  afraid  of 
falling.  Tree  frogs  are  good  swimmers. 
Their  toes  are  webbed.  They  look  for 
cool,  damp  places. 

D.  Peepers. 

The  singing  of  spring  peepers  is  one 
of  the  first  signs  of  spring.  Some  peepers 
seem  to  be  gray,  some  yellow,  some 
brown,  some  almost  black.  They  change 
their  colors  to  match  what  they  are 
sitting  on.  Because  of  this,  it  is  hard  to 
find  them.  A peeper  is  about  one  inch 
long.  To  see  one  of  these  frogs  peeping 
is  a funny  sight.  He  begins  by  puffing 
out  his  throat  like  a bubble.  Bigger  and 
bigger  the  bubble  grows  until  it  is  half 
as  large  as  he  is.  Then  it  begins  to  get 
smaller  again  and  you  hear  the  frog’s 
sweet  little  call.  When  the  bubble  is 
gone,  the  peeping  stops. 

The  eggs  of  a peeper  are  tiny.  They 
look  like  small  seeds.  The  mother  fastens 
them  to  stems  in  the  water.  Soon  the 
tadpoles  are  swimming  about.  These  lit- 
tle frogs  hide  in  all  kinds  of  places.  Some 
hide  and  hunt  in  heavy  vines.  Others 
climb  tall  ferns.  Some  of  them  climb 
to  the  tops  of  tall  trees.  Spring  peepers 
are  quiet  in  midsummer — but  late  in  fall 
you  can  still  hear  them  peeping. 


long  neck 

hump 

two  stomachs 

tusks 

stores  fat 

roars 

strong  tail 

wicked 

hang  by  his  tail 

jungle 

long  trunk 

desert 

afraid  of  water 

lioness 

do  tricks 

cub 

climb  trees 

paws 

tough  skin 

catlike 

lonely 

tallest 

graceful 

strongest 

Spotted 

playful 

3.  Seatwork. 

a.  Match  animal  names  to  pictures. 

b.  Yes-No  question.  A lion  has  a 
heavy  mane. 

c.  Blank  Filling. 

The has  a long  trunk. 

d.  Multiple  Choice. 

( wicked. 

A giraffe  is  < wise. 

I lonely. 

7 desert. 

A camel  lives  in  the  < jungle. 

V farm. 

e.  Classification— wild — tame 

cow  lion  giraffe 

pig  horse  tiger 

f.  Match  descriptive  word  or  phrase 
to  animal’s  name. 

1.  lonely  camel 

2.  roars  giraffe 

3.  wicked  tiger 

4.  hump  lion 

g.  Matching.  Which  one  ? 

1.  has  cushions  on  his  feet  camel 

2.  gets  fruit  from  tall  trees  monkey 

3.  is  afraid  of  water  giraffe 

4.  Art. 

a.  Draw  pictures  of  animals  for 
booklet. 

b.  Draw  large  pictures  for  easel. 

c.  Make  a merry-go-round. 

d.  Make  clay  and  plasticine  animals. 

e.  Make  cages  for  animals. 


Animals  and  Flowers 


(Continued  from  page  45) 


e is  a preacher. 

f.  A has  little  curly 

leaves  on  its  stem. 

g.  We  do  not  like on  our 

lawns. 


h.  The 

i.  The 

wet  place. 

j.  The 

flower. 

marsh  marigold 

dandelion 

Jack-in-the-pulpit 

trillium 

rose 

Key 

rose 

pansy 

trillium 

arbutus 

jack-in-the-pulpit 


is  like  a cup. 
grows  in  a very 

is  a tiny  purple 

violet 

tulip 

carnation 

arbutus 

pansy 

carnation 

dandelions 

tulip 

marsh  marigold 
violet 


Write  in  the  spaces  at  the  right  of  each 
sentence  the  word  “yes”  if  the  state- 
ment is  true,  or  “no”  if  it  is  false. 


1.  A rose  has  just  three  white  petals. 
( ) 

2.  A tulip  has  a little  face.  ( ) 

3.  Pansies  have  many  colors.  ( ) 

4.  Arbutus  grows  on  a tree.  ( ) 

5.  A trillium  has  prickers  on  its  stem. 
( ) 

6.  Flowers  need  sun  and  water.  ( ) 

7.  The  roots  get  food  for  the  plant 
( ) 

8.  We  like  to  have  dandelions  on  our 

lawns.  ( ) 

9.  Jack-in-the-pulpit  likes  a shady 

place.  ( ) 

10.  Pansies  grow  in  the  woods.  ( ) 

11.  Violets  are  big  flowers.  ( ) 

12.  The  leaves  take  air  to  the  plant. 

( ) 


Key 

1.  False 

7.  True 

2.  False 

8.  False 

3.  True 

9.  True 

4.  False 

10.  False 

5.  False 

11.  False 

6.  True 

12.  True 

61 


very  sharp  claws  on  all  four  feet. 

h.  Only  father  toad  can  sing. 

i.  As  soon  as  a toad  can  hop  he 
lives  on  the  ground. 

j.  A toad  likes  to  live  in  a garden. 

k.  He  eats  our  vegetables. 

l.  A frog  likes  to  live  near  the  wa- 
ter. 

2.  Completion. 

Can  you  put  in  the  missing  letters  ? 


a.  Something  that  hops.  - - og 

(frog) 

b.  Where  a frog  often  sits.  - og 

(log) 

c.  A Spring  month.  Mar  - 

( March ) 

d.  Something  bees  like.  - - owers 


( flowers ) 

e.  Something  that  helps  flowers  to 
grow.  --owers  (showers) 

f.  Where  the  birds  have  been  all 

winter.  Sou--  (South) 

g.  What  the  wind  does.  - - ows 

(blows) 

h.  Where  some  frogs  live.  - - ee 

(tree) 

i.  All  frogs  can  sw  - -. 


(swim) 


3.  Matching. 

Do  you  know  which  animal  each 
sentence  tells  about? 

List  the  number  of  each  sentence 
under  its  proper  heading. 

I.  Frogs  II.  Rabbits 

a.  My  eyes  are  on  top  of  my  head. 

b.  My  hind  legs  are  good  for  jump- 
ing. 

c.  My  tail  is  like  white  cotton. 

d.  I like  the  water. 

e.  I eat  bugs,  flies,  and  insects. 

f.  I eat  garden  vegetables. 

g.  My  coat  changes  color  in  the 
spring. 

h.  I lay  my  eggs  in  the  water. 

i.  I thump  with  my  hind  legs. 


Spring's  Awakening 

(Continued  from  page  25) 

j.  My  throat  looks  like  a bubble 
when  I sing. 

4.  Yes  and  No  Questions. 

a.  Are  baby  toads  called  tadpoles  ? 

b.  Does  mother  toad  lay  eggs  in  the 
water  ? 

c.  Do  frogs  sometimes  freeze  in  the 
winter  ? 

d.  Is  a frog’s  tongue  like  our 
tongue  ? 

e.  Is  the  wind  always  from  the 
North? 

f.  Do  rabbits  change  color  in  the 
Spring  ? 

g.  Does  sap  for  maple  syrup  come 
from  oak  trees? 

h.  Will  people  who  handle  frogs  and 
toads  have  warts? 

5.  Classification. 

Write  the  numbers  of  the  sentendes 

in  the  right  columns. 

bear  | toad  | rabbit  | cub  | frog  | 

1.  He  will  climb  trees  to  get  honey. 

2.  He  uses  his  eyes,  ears,  nose,  legs, 
and  wits  to  save  himself. 

3.  He  thumps  on  the  ground  to  let 
his  babies  know  when  danger  is 
near. 

4.  He  keeps  the  garden  clean  from 
insects. 

5.  Eats  his  skin  when  he  changes  it. 

6.  His  foot  tracks  look  like  a man’s 
tracks. 

7.  They  are  always  born  in  pairs. 

8.  His  tongue  flaps  like  a rubber 
band. 

6.  Multiple  Choice 

Pet  Rabbits. 

a.  A rabbit  is  a 1.  good  pet.  2..  good 
playmate.  3.  good  animal. 

b.  1.  A hollow  tree 

2.  A hole  in  the  ground 

3.  A big  box 

makes  a good  home  for  a pet  rab- 
bit. 


c.  A pet  rabbit  needs  1.  one  meal  a 
day.  2.  two  meals  a day.  3.  three 
meals  a day. 

d.  A pet  rabbit  needs  1.  little  care. 

2.  no  care.  3.  much  care. 

e.  A rabbit  should  get  fresh  water 
1.  three  times  a day.  2.  once  a 
day.  3.  once  a week. 

f.  Rabbits  should  have  1.  food  that 
is  cooked.  2.  food  that  is  not 
cooked.  3.  food  that  is  hot. 

Rabbits 

7.  Questions. 

Read  the  story,  then  answer  each 
question  with  one  or  two  words. 

Wild  rabbits  have  to  take  care  of 
themselves.  They  live  in  the  fields 
and  near  the  woods.  Animals  try  to 
catch  them  because  they  are  good 
to  eat.  Rabbits  can  not  fight  very 
well.  They  use  their  eyes,  ears, 
nose,  legs,  and  wits  to  save  them- 
selves. 

They  eat  roots,  berries,  fish,  bark 
and  green  leaves. 

A briar  patch  is  most  always  a 
safe  place  for  a rabbit. 

a.  Who  takes  care  of  the  wild  rab- 
bits? 

b.  Where  do  they  live  ? 

c.  Can  a rabbit  fight  ? 

d.  Write  the  name  of  one  thing  he 
uses  to  save  himself. 

e.  Write  the  name  of  one  thing  he 
eats. 

f . Where  does  a rabbit  find  safety  ? 

g.  Why  do  animals  try  to  catch 
them? 

Turtles 

1.  Are  all  turtles  alike  ? 

2.  Do  turtles  have  teeth  ? 

3.  Can  a snapping  turtle  bite  ? 

4.  Are  snapping  turtles  small  ? 

5.  Does  his  shell  protect  him  ? 

6.  Is  his  shell  big  enough  for  his  body? 


Seals 


Teaching  Geography 

( Continued  from  page  26) 


( Continued  from  page  51) 
ones  showing  which  are  best  fitted  for 
seal  hunting. 

11.  Solving  problems,  such  as:  If  there 
are  300  men  on  board  ship  and  they 
catch  1400  sculps,  how  many  does 
each  man  get  when  they  are  divided? 

If  a quintal  is  112  lbs.  and  a ship 
carries  110  quintals  of  dried  codfish, 
how  many  lbs.  of  it  are  on  board? 

12.  Reporting  on  methods  of  workin 
ship  through  the  ice. 

13.  Comparing: 

(a)  catching  of  fur  seals 

(b)  catching  of  harps 

(c)  catching  hood  seals 

14.  If  possible,  visiting  a circus  or  zoo  to 
watch  seals. 

15.  Modeling  seals,  ships,  weapons. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Compton’s  Pictured  Encyclopedia.  F.  E 
Compton  Co.,  Chicago,  111. 
Encyclopedia,  World  Book.  World  Book 
Co.,  Yonkers-on-Hudson,  New  York. 


Distance 

Develop  concepts  of  inch,  foot,  yard, 
mile.  Develop  this  study  through  activ- 
ities, such  as  building  the  playhouse. 

Direction 

Right-hand,  left-hand.  Teach  cardinal 
points  of  compass.  Then  teach  the  semi- 
cardinal points  as  needed.  (Note:  At 
this  point  have  little  exercises  or  games 
to  teach  children  how  to  apply  what  they 
have  learned  about  direction.  For  ex- 
ample: Let  a child  pretend  that  he  is 
standing  in  front  of  the  post  office.  A 
stranger  asks  the  child  to  direct  him  to 
the  schoolhouse,  which  the  child  does. 
The  teacher  at  the  schoolhouse  wishes 
to  visit  the  child’s  home  on  Saturday. 
Ask  the  child  to  give  her  the  directions 
for  finding  it.) 

It  is  important  for  small  children’s 
safety  that  they  get  a good  idea  of  direc- 
tion as  soon  as  possible. 

62 


Some  good  nature  myths  (Consult 
bojks  of  myths  at  library).  Hermes, 
Apollo,  Arachne,  Ceres,  Clytie,  Iris,  Snow 
Maiden,  The  Poplar  Tree,  Golden  Rod  and 
Aster,  Baucis  and  Philemon,  Aeolus  and 
the  Winds,  The  Wind  and  the  Sun,  The 
Red-headed  Woodpecker,  The  Wise  King 
and  the  Bee,  How  the  Robin’s  Breast  Be- 
came Red,  How  the  Chipmunk  got  the 
stripes  on  his  back. 


Typical  Poems: 

“Sweet  and  Low” — Alfred  Tennyson. 
“Seven  Times  One” — Jean  Ingelow. 
“Bed  in  Summer” — R.  L.  Stevenson. 
“The  Brook” — Alfred  Tennyson. 

“The  Brook  and  the  Wave” — Henry  W. 
Longfellow. 

“Lady  Moon” — Lord  Houghton. 

“The  Stream” — Eugene  Field. 

“If  I Were  a Sunbeam” — Lucy  Larcom. 


We  Study  Bees 


3  Are  bees  an  injury  or  a benefit 

to  the  flowers  they  visit? 

4  Tell  about  the  three  classes  of 

honey  bees. 

5  What  is  a drone?  Why  is  it 

given  this  name? 

6  Who  rules  the  hive? 

7  What  is  the  queen’s  special 

function? 

8  How  many  queens  does  one 

swarm  have? 

9  How  long  does  a queen  bee 

live? 

10  How  long  does  a worker  live? 

11  How  many  eggs  can  a queen 

lay  in  a day? 

12  How  long  does  it  take  the  eggs 

to  hatch? 

13  How  are  the  hives  ventilated? 

14  How  long  after  the  egg  is 

hatched,  does  the  fully  developed 
bee  appear? 

15  Why  do  bees  swarm? 

16  Will  they  swarm  without  a 

queen? 

17  What  happens  to  honey  bees  in 

winter? 

18  Is  bumble  bee  honey  good  to 

pat? 

19  What  uninvited  guest  does  the 

bumble  bee  have? 

20  Name  the  solitary  bees. 

Answers 

1  Nectar  of  pollen 

2  Bee  bread 

3  Benefit 

4  Queen-ruler  lays  eggs,  drones 

do  nothing,  workers  find  and  bring 
back  food,  guard  hive  and  queen. 

5  Male  bee — Never  does  any 

work 

6  Queen  bee 

7  Laying  eggs 

8  One 

9  Five  or  six  years 


( Continued  from  page  10) 

10  Six  weeks 

11  As  many  as  six  thousand 

12  About  five  days 

13  By  workers  flapping  wings 

14  About  two  weeks 

15  Hive  crowded 

16  No 

17  Drones  driven  out  and  die — 

Queen  and  workers  rest 

18  No 

19  Parasite 

20  Carpenter  bee,  Mason  bee 

II True False 

1  Bees  are  a benefit  to  the  flowers 

they  visit. 

2  Each  hive  has  one  queen. 

3  Workers  are  not  permitted  to 

sting  queens. 

4  Drones  are  cared  for  all  winter. 

5  Bees  sting  everybody. 

6  Workers  flap  their  wings  to 

ventilate  the  hives. 

7  The  stinger  is  the  bee’s  weapon 

for  attacking  enemies. 

8  Every  bee  colony  has  three 

kinds  of  bees workers,  drones 

and  queen. 

9  The  workers  feed  the  queen 

and  keep  her  clean. 

10  Workers  take  turns  acting  as 

guards. 

11  Many  people  make  a business 

of  raising  bees  and  selling  honey. 

12  The  wax  that  bees  make  for 

their  combs  is  not  useful. 


Answers 


1... 

. . .true 

5... 

9... 

2... 

6... 

. . .true 

10... 

3... 

7... 

11... 

4... 

8... 

12... 

HI Complete  the  following 

1  Honeybees  live  in 

2  The  leader  of  a swarm  of  bees 

is  called  a 


3  The lays  the  eggs. 

4  is  an  excellent  food. 

5  Many  bees  in  a hive  are 

6  is  the  way  bees  protect 

themselves. 

7  bees  may  live  as  long  as 

five  years. 

8  A bee  is  stung  to  death 

when  she  can  no  longer  lay  eggs. 

9  Bees  are  guided  to  flowers 

chiefly  by  

10 A bee  community  is  a perfect 

example  of 


Answers 


1  hives 

2  queen 

3  queen 

4  honey 

5  workers 


6  stinging 

7  queen 

8  queen 

9  smell 

10 cooperation 


IV Fill  in  the  blanks  with  the  fol- 

lowing words. 


community  hobby  cooperation 

pollen  bees  nectar 

crops  honey  queen 

Besides  making  honey  and  wax 1 

help  farmers  and  gardeners  in  other  ways. 

The  carrying  of 2 about  from  one 

plant  to  another  is  often  done  by  bees  as 
they  gather 3 . Many  of  the  farm- 
er’s   4 would  not  produce  if  the 

bees  did  not  carry  5 from  one 

plant  to  another.  Bees  are  such  useful 
and  interesting  insects  that  some  people 

make  a 6- of  raising  them.  Bee 

life  is  a study  in 7 and 8 

life. 

Answers 


1  bees 

2  pollen 

3  nectar 

4  crops 


5  pollen 

6  hobby 

7  cooperation 

3 community 


The  Zoo 

(Continued  from  page  53) 


visited  Prospect  Park  Zoo.  So  they  were 
anxious  to  have  a stand  in  our  zoo.  They 
made  a small  stand  out  of  two  wooden 
boxes.  One  child  brought  some  small 
paper  bags  for  the  peanuts.  Several  chil- 
dren printed  the  words  “Jumbo  Peanuts” 
on  them.  They  filled  the  bags  with  tom 
newspapers  and  then  placed  them  on  the 
stand.  An  attendant  was  selected  to  “sell” 
the  peanuts.  An  appropriate  hat  was  also 
made  for  him.  Many  problems  in  arith- 
metic were  developed  in  this  phase  of  the 
activity. 


CONCLUSION 

When  the  zoo  was  completed,  a head 
keeper,  several  keepers  and  guides  were 
selected  to  operate  it.  Invitations  were 
written  by  the  children  and  sent  out  to 
guests.  The  head  keeper  welcomed  visi- 
tors and  the  guides  conducted  them 
through  the  zoo.  The  keepers  were  sta- 
tioned at  various  cages  to  tell  about  their 
animals  and  answer  questions.  The  at- 
tendant at  the  Information  booth  distri- 
buted the  booklets  and  answered-  ques- 


Signs  of  Wild  Life 

( Continued  from  page  35) 

ed  up  on  a branch  close  against  the  side 
of  a tree,  their  tails  close  over  their 
backs,  and  their  feet  tucked  well  in  un- 
der them. 

Bobwhites,  redpolls,  and  goldfinches, 
on  sunny  days,  leave  their  tracks  in 
weedy  fields.  A storm  drives  them  to  the 
shelter  of  the  woods  or  to  some  other 
protected  place.  The  bobwhites,  or  quail, 
snuggle  close  together  under  tall  grass- 
es, or  in  some  thick  vegetation,  to  spend 
the  nights  and  to  weather  out  rough 
winds.  When  there  is  snow  in  such 
places,  you  will  find  it  fairly  trampled 
down  by  their  numerous  little  feet.  The 
bobwhite’s  track  is  exactly  like  that  of 
a ruffed  grouse,  only  smaller. 


b.  eggs  carried  from  room  to  room 

4.  development  of  the  young 

a.  egg 

b.  larva  (fed  honeydew  by  workers) 

c.  cocoon 

d.  young  ant 

5.  war-like  methods  between  different 
species  of  ants 

E.  Problem:  Are  ants  useful  or  harm- 
ful? 

1.  farmer  ants  make  gardens  in  their 
underground  homes 

2.  carpenter  ants  destroy  wood 

3.  red  and  black  ants  make  the  ground 
porous 

Wasp 

A.  Hornet 

1.  Problem:  How  would  you  recognize 
a hornet? 

a.  brown  in  color 

b.  looks  like  an  enlarged  ant  with 
wings 

2.  Problem:  What  do  hornets  eat? 

(fruit  juices) 

3.  Problem:  What  kind  of  nest  does 
the  hornet  build? 

a.  pear-shaped  with  an  opening  at 
the  bottom 

b.  material  (paper) — wasps  were 
the  first  paper  makers 

c.  location  (branch  of  tree) 

4.  Problem:  What  is  their  mode  of 
life? 

a.  development  of  the  young 

(1)  egg;  (2)  larva;  (3)  cocoon; 
(4)  young  wasp 


head  and  legs  into  this  shell,  it  is  prac- 
tically immune  to  attack  from  its 
enemies. 

Turtles  are  cold-blooded.  This  means 
that  their  temperature  does  not  remain 
constant  but  that  it  fluctuates  with  the 
temperature  of  the  water  in  which  they 
live.  The  turtles’  temperature  usually 
remains  about  one  degree  above  that  of 
the  water.  Thus,  if  the  water  were  40° 
F.,  the  turtles’  temperature  would  be 
about  41°  F.  When  the  water  is  warm, 
the  turtles  are  very  active.  When  it  is 
cold,  they  do  not  move  about  much. 

All  turtles  have  a similar  life  history. 
The  females  begin  to  lay  eggs  when  they 
are  eight  to  twelve  years  old  and  con- 
tinue to  do  so  for  many  years.  In  fact, 
it  has  been  said  that  turtles  may  live 
more  than  100  years. 

The  female  lays  her  eggs  on  the  land 
and  immediately  forgets  them.  The  heat 
of  the  sun  hatches  the  eggs  in  a few 
weeks  and  the  baby  turtles  dig  to  the 
surface  and  make  their  way  to  the  water. 
They  spend  most  of  their  first  year 
seeking  food  among  the  dense  water 
plants  along  the  shore. 

Baby  turtles  have  many  enemies. 
Most  predacious  animals  eat  them.  Since 
their  shell  is  tender  and  soft, . skunks, 
'possums,  fish,  frogs,  snakes  all  find 
them  delicious  tidbits. 


Insects 

(Continued,  from  page  8) 

b.  queen  alone  survives  the  winter 

5.  Problem:  How  is  the  hornet  useful 
to  us?  He  showed  us  how  to  make 
paper. 

6.  Problem:  How  does  the  yellow 
jacket  compare  with  the  hornet? 

a.  appearance 

(1)  smaller 

(2)  color — yellow  and  black 

b.  home  and  mode  of  life 

(1)  also  social 

(2)  nest  of  paper — hexagonal 
celled  combs 

(3)  nest  underground 

(4)  irritable:  have  painful  stings 

B.  Mud  dauber 

1.  Problem:  Where  and  how  does  this 
wasp  construct  its  home? 

a.  material — mud  mixed  with  juice 
from  her  mouth 

b.  four  rooms 

c.  location 

(1)  fastened  to  flat  stones  on 
ground 

(2)  along  a stream 

2.  Problem:  What  is  work  and  mode 
of  life  of  the  mud  dauber  wasp? 

a.  solitary 

b.  puts  poisoned  caterpillar  or 
spider  in  each  room  for  home- 
food  for  young 

c.  development  of  young 

(1)  egg  laid  on  top  of  caterpillar 
or  spider 

(2)  larva  eats  caterpillar  or 
spider 


The  Turtle 

( Continued  from  page  27) 

Turtles  grow  rapidly  the  first  sum- 
mer and  almost  double  their  size.  They 
eat  tremendous  quantities  of  fish  and 
frog  eggs,  algae,  and  water  insects.  By 
the  end  of  the  second  summer  their  shell 
has  hardened  and  they  become  more 
active. 

Turtles  move  about  the  lake  and  feed 
on  injured  fish  and  lazy  cray-fish.  They 
become  scavengers  of  the  lake.  Al- 
though they  relish  an  active  healthy 
fish,  they  can  not  move  fast  enough  to 

catch  thebe  fish  and  so  must  be  content 
with'  those  that  are  sick  or  injured,  and 
the  ones  they  can  steal  from  the  fisher- 
man’s line. 

Turtles  grow  slowly  after  the  first 
two  summers,  and  become  mature  after 
eight  to  twelve  years. 

In  parts  of  the  country  where  the  wa- 
ter becomes  extremely  cold  during  the 
winter,  turtles  seek  a warm  place  deep 
in  the  mud  and  remain  there  throughout 
the  winter. 

Although  most  fishermen  consider 
them  pests,  turtles  probably  do  much 
less  harm  then  they  are  accused  of,  and 
are  undoubtedly  of  value  as  scavengers. 

In  many  parts  of  the  country,  turtle 
meat  is  considered  a delicacy.  Some  per- 
sons earn  their  living  catching  turtles 
for  city  markets. 


(3)  cocoon 

(4)  young  wasp 

Gall  Fly 

A.  Problem:  How  would  you  recognize  a 
gall  fly? 

1.  an  insect, 

2.  color — grayish  black  with  dark 
wings 

3.  wings,  two  in  number 

4.  similar  in  appearance  to  ordinary 
house  fly 

B.  Problem:  What  is  the  gall  fly’s  mode 
of  life? 

1.  solitary 

2.  development  of  young 

a.  eggs  laid  on  stem  (may  be  a 
goldenrod) 

b.  maggot  within  gall 

(1)  gall-swelling  of  the  stem 

(2)  food — inside  of  gall 

c.  cocoon 

d.  young  gall  fly 

3.  grown  fly  leaves  the  gall 

SUMMARY 

A.  Comparison  of  the  insects  (Oral) 

1.  appearance;  (2)  food;  (3)  home; 
(4)  development  of  young;  (5) 
work;  (6)  usefulness 

B.  Observatioh  of  beehive  preceded  by 
questions  to  guide  observation. 

C.  Correlate  study  of  insects  with  art, 
reading,  English  (oral  and  written) 
and  writing. 

D.  First  hand  observation  of  insects  in 
school  room  and  on  school  grounds. 


QUESTIONS 


1.  In  making  a home  (aquarium)  for 
turtles,  should  you  plan  to  have  the  tur- 
tle stay  in  water  all  the  time  ? Why  not  ? 

2.  Tell  how  you  will  provide  for  this. 

3.  What  do  turtles  eat  when  in  their 
native  environment?  What  can  we  feed 
them  in  the  aquarium  ? 

4.  What  is  meant  by  saying  that  tur- 
tles are  scavengers  ? 

5.  What  is  meant  by  saying  that  tur- 
tles are  predators? 

6.  Do  turtles  do  more  harm  than  good 
to  man  ? Why  ? 

7.  How  many  kinds  of  turtles  are 
there  ? Describe  them. 

8.  How  do  turtles  protect  themselves 
from  attack  ? Have  you  ever  seen  a tur- 
tle do  this?  Describe? 

9.  In  cold  climates,  how  do  turtles 
spend  the  winter? 

10.  How  old  have  turtles  lived  to  be  ? 

11.  What  kind  of  feet  have  turtles  ? 

12.  How  could  you  tell  by  their  ap- 
pearance that  turtles  can  catch  and  eat 
heavy  food? 

13.  Are  turtles  ever  used  as  food  for 
man  ? 

14.  Why  do  we  sometimes  hear  a per- 
son called,  "As  coldblooded  as  a turtle”  ? 


64 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBAN  A 


372.3  G75N  C001  * 2 
Nature  studies  lessons  units  and 


3 0112 105666157 


EDUCATIONAL.  PUBLISHING  COHFOIt  ATION 


CONNECTICUT 


